Chairman Smith calls on Biden-Harris Administration to move quickly to revoke related organizations’ tax-exempt status.
Washington, D.C. – Following Ways and Means Republicans calling on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to revoke the tax-exempt status of multiple organizations tied to Foreign Terrorist Organizations, the Department of Treasury has sanctioned Samidoun, designating it “a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.” Samidoun and its fiscal sponsor the Alliance for Global Justice were subjects of the Committee’s referrals to the IRS just a few weeks ago.
“I am encouraged that Treasury is finally acting on calls by Ways and Means Republicans to go after organizations tied to foreign terrorist organizations,” said Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08). “Americans are disgusted to learn their tax dollars have subsidized groups like Samidoun, who organize illegal activity here in America and provide support for terrorist organizations overseas. According to evidence gathered by the Ways and Means Committee over the course of our investigation, this is one of many organizations fueling antisemitic activities, breaking multiple laws and supporting hate and chaos across America. While this is a welcome first step, the Biden-Harris Administration must waste no time in going further to revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization funding or supporting terrorism.”
Treasury announced that:
“Today, in a joint action with Canada, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, or ‘Samidoun,’ a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. The PFLP, which was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Department of State in October 1997 and October 2001, respectively, uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europe and North America.”
Ways and Means Republicans wrote IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in September specifically calling out Samidoun as the recipient of tax-exempt dollars to “incite violence and instill chaos”:
“The Alliance for Global Justice, in conjunction with its fiscally sponsored project, Samidoun, has funded and supported conduct intended to incite violence and instill chaos and holds suspicious ties to designated terrorist organizations. This is despite receiving tax-exempt status as a charitable organization. This conduct is designed to sow chaos and discord in our society, has involved illegal activities, and certainly is not in furtherance of any tax-exempt purpose.”
This excerpt comes from a series of letters that provide specific evidence outlining each organization’s suspected illegal or nonconforming conduct that warranted their referral and call for revocation to the IRS. In particular, the evidence provided demonstrates that these groups are involved in illegal activity, including possible funding or coordination with foreign terrorist groups, that does not fulfill nor further their tax-exempt purposes.
You can read the full text of the letters here.
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