Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation

Old_Joe

The directive suggests department leaders are following orders from the president, a major break from decades of past practice meant to insulate the agency from political interference.

Following are edited excerpts from a current report in The New York Times. (This should be a free link.)

A senior Justice Department official has instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate the Open Society Foundations, a group funded by George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor whom President Trump has demanded be thrown in jail. The directive, a copy of which was viewed by The New York Times, goes as far as to list possible charges prosecutors could file, ranging from arson to material support of terrorism. The memo suggests department leaders are following orders from the president that specific people or groups be subject to criminal investigation.

After Mr. Kirk’s killing this month, Mr. Trump sharply criticized the “radical left,” singling out Mr. Soros’s foundation and urging that he be put behind bars. Mr. Soros is “a bad guy” who “should be put in jail,” he told NBC News. His remarks echoed a social media post Mr. Trump made in August, when he said Mr. Soros and his son, who has taken a larger role in the organization in recent years, should be charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly called RICO and historically used to prosecute mafia figures. They should be charged “because of their support for Violent Protest, and much more, all throughout the United States,” Mr. Trump added.

On Monday, a lawyer in the office of the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, issued the directive to U.S. attorney’s offices in California, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Maryland, among others. The lawyer, Aakash Singh, who is responsible for communicating with federal prosecutors around the country, suggested a wide range of charges for prosecutors to consider against the Open Society Foundations. Possible charges included racketeering, arson, wire fraud and material support for terrorism, according to a copy of the directive.

Asked about the nascent effort to investigate Mr. Soros’s foundation at a White House event on Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi replied, “Everything is on the table right now,” while declining to comment further. Mr. Trump said Mr. Soros would be “a likely candidate” to be investigated.

Mr. Soros began his global grant network, now known as the Open Society Foundations, decades ago to fund democratic initiatives around the world, particularly in communist and formerly communist countries. In the 1990s, the organization expanded its work to the United States. It provides grants to groups that work for human rights, democracy and equity, but Mr. Trump and some Republicans contend, without providing evidence, that it is a shadowy network promoting civil unrest, violent protests and property destruction. Liberals say the assertions are falsehoods aimed at stifling dissent.

In a statement, the Open Society Foundations denounced the accusations as “politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech.”

Last week, the Open Society Foundations joined more than 100 largely liberal philanthropies to defend themselves and condemn political violence. That same week, the Soros family donated $10 million to Democratic efforts to redraw congressional districts in California, part of a nationwide political fight for control of Congress.

Old_Joe

And this, from The Guardian:

Trump directs FBI and justice department to investigate supposed funders of 'organized political violence'

Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the justice department and the FBI’s joint terrorism taskforce to investigate what he claimed is an organized campaign of political violence and domestic terrorism funded by wealthy Democratic donors.

At an Oval Office event, Trump’s domestic policy adviser, Stephen Miller, claimed that violence on the fringes of racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, “all the way through to the Antifa riots”, was “part of an organized campaign of radical left terrorism” funded by wealthy donors. “It is terrorism on our soil,” Miller said. “People and organizations have collected funds and organized violence,” Miller claimed.

“We are going to chase them down like the domestic terrorists they are,” the FBI director, Kash Patel added.

Citing his previously made claim that the production quality of signs seen at protests is evidence of funding, Trump claimed that protesters opposed to structural racism in policing or his mass deportation sweeps are “professional anarchists and agitators, and they get hired by wealthy people, some of whom I know, I guess”.

Asked who he was referring to, Trump said, “Soros is a name that I keep hearing”, in reference to the hedge fund billionaire philanthropist George Soros, whose Open Society Foundations is now run by his son Alex.

“Reid Hoffman,” Trump added, referring to the billionaire Democratic donor, a co-founder of LinkedIn and Microsoft board member. “I hear about him.”

Comment:
“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” That’s the catchall phrase from Communist China’s lexicon for anyone who makes the regime uncomfortable.

Fits rather well right here, yes?

Old_Joe

HOW IS THIS CREW OF BASTARDS GOING TO BE STOPPED ???

howaya

How is U.S. national security going to be maintained when when so many resources are misdirected to satisfy the vanity and pettiness of one vile arrogant buffoon?

Crash

Rule of Law and impartiality is dead. Can you say, "banana republic," boys and girls? I just knew you could.
Once more, with feelin':

DrVenture

The definition of an "Investigation in search of a crime".

For anyone keeping score at home, Soros has been the subject of right-wing anti-semitism for many decades. Bizarre conspiracies straight out of the Third Reich Handbook.

As a child, Soro's parents gave him to a friend to hide from the Nazis. The family friend was in charge of inventory for the belongings stolen from Jews. This led to the conspiracy that George Soros was a Nazi "sympathizer". In reality, it was how Soros family protected him from ending up in a concentration camp.

This is the disgusting way that the right likes to continue persecuting Jews. And why I am shocked that any Jew would align with these racists/bigots.