Nine US non-profits with ties to terrorist groups referred for investigation by House Ways and Means

The US House Ways and Means Committee has referred US tax-exempt organizations that have suspected ties to foreign terrorist organizations and fuel antisemitism to the Attorneys General of six states where those nonprofits are organized for investigation.

On Tuesday, letters were sent by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R -MO), who had previously demanded that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revoke the tax-exempt status of these organizations after the committee’s investigation into the tax-exempt sector in the United States exposed that the groups were “operating outside their tax-exempt purpose, fueling antisemitic activities, and potentially engaging in activity that violates both state and federal law.” The letter to the IRS stated that the organizations should have their tax-exempt status revoked "for fueling chaos here in America and possibly terrorism abroad."

Letters were sent to the Attorney Generals of Washington, New York, Virginia, Arizona, California, and Texas.

The letter sent to Washington Democratic Attorney Bob Ferguson, who is currently running for governor, discussed the case against The Palestine Chronicle, a non-profit media company based in the state that employed a Hamas terrorist as a journalist who held Israeli hostages in his family’s Gaza home. The “journalist” Abdallah Aljamal, was killed during the rescue operation to free the Israeli hostages from being imprisoned there.

In July, a letter was sent by Israel’s consul general asking Ferguson to investigate a non-profit media company based in the state after it was revealed that one of the outlet’s “journalists” was holding Israeli hostages in his home in Gaza who were kidnapped on Oct 7, 2023, by Palestinian terrorists. The consul general’s office confirmed that Ferguson has still not responded to the letter.

The letter was sent the same day one of the Israeli hostages held by Aljamal filed a lawsuit against the People Media Project, the non-profit that operates the Palestine Chronicle. The suit stated, "Under the leadership of Defendants [editor-in-chief] Ramzy Baroud and [People Media Project governor] John Harvey, Defendant Palestine Chronicle employed Hamas Operative Aljamal and offered him its US platform to write and disseminate Hamas propaganda, ultimately subsidized, through its status as a tax-exempt charitable organization, by US taxpayers."

In July, Chairman Smith, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) demanding that the agency investigate The Palestine Chronicle and People Media Project for potential crimes related to providing material support for terrorism.

In a letter to the New York Attorney General New York State Democrat Letitia James, the committee referred cases on the Westchester People’s Action Coalition (WESPAC) and The People’s Forum for fueling antisemitism by aiding and abetting riots in the US and on college campuses.

In Virginia, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares was asked to pursue cases against Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation and Americans Muslims for Palestine for inciting riots and engaging in illegal activity in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel.

Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes was asked to bring a case against the Alliance for Global Justice, the fiscal sponsor of the US-designated terror group, Samidoun. Earlier this month, the US and Canada designated Samidoun "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," which has been a designated terrorist organization since 1997.

The committee’s letter to Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta in California asked for an investigation into Jewish Voice for Peace and the Tides Foundation for aiding and abetting riots as well as Gaza camps on college campuses across the US. In May, it was revealed that many of the financial backers of the far-left Gaza camps are also big donors to Joe Biden and other Democrat candidates and causes. Politico reported that "The donors include some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Gates, Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker."

The final letter asked Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to bring cases against the non-profit United Hands Relief for numerous possible connections to designated terrorist organizations.

Chairman Smith said in a statement, “The Ways and Means Committee is committed to holding accountable any tax-exempt organization found to have ties to foreign terrorist organizations, engaged in activity that contradicts tax-exempt purposes, or participated in other illegal activity. While I have already demanded the Biden-Harris Administration stand up to the pro-Hamas wing of their party and revoke the tax-exempt status of these groups, it is now time for state law enforcement agencies to act and bring any organization found to have engaged in illegal activity to justice. Congress owes it to the American people to ensure any organization with tax-exempt status is operating for their stated tax-exempt purpose, and more importantly, following the letter of the law.”