WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08), Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05), and Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (KY-01) demanded DOJ investigate The Palestine Chronicle and People Media Project for potential crimes related to providing material support for terrorism.
The Committee Chairs write, “Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, ‘[w]hoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life’ and, based on the facts available, The Palestine Chronicle and People Media Project appear to be at the very least complicit in supporting Hamas, and at worst full-fledged financiers of terrorism.”
The Committee Chairs’ letter also highlights potential crimes related to filing false tax returns:
“In addition to the suspected material support of terrorism in the Middle East, People Media Project also appears to have filed inconsistent and possibly fraudulent information with state and federal governments regarding the amount of revenue it receives each year. According to the IRS, People Media Project has filed a Form 990-N – a form that organizations may file if their gross receipts are equal to or less than $50,000 for that taxable year – every year since being granted tax-exempt status with the exception of tax year 2017, suggesting that its gross receipts have been below the $50,000 threshold almost every year since 2012. However, based on its filings with the state of Washington, People Media Project reported much more than $50,000 in revenue for the year in 2020, 2021, and 2022.”
In June, the Ways and Means Committee referred People Media Project to the Internal Revenue Service and demanded the revocation of its tax-exempt status after reports surfaced showing a “journalist” for The Palestine Chronicle, in support of Hamas terrorists, actively held innocent Israeli civilians hostage following the October 7th attack on Israel.
You can read the full text of the letter here.