Scott Bessent Just Dropped the Hammer, Dark Money Marxists Are Panicking [WATCH]

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that the Department of the Treasury is examining the activities and funding structures of certain nonprofit organizations following recent protests and violence targeting federal immigration officers, including incidents that erupted after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot an activist in Minneapolis.

Bessent made the comments during a conversation with journalist Christopher Rufo, where the two discussed the role of nonprofit organizations in organizing or encouraging protest activity that has escalated into criminal conduct in multiple cities. The discussion followed demonstrations in several blue cities that broke out within hours of the Minneapolis shooting, some of which involved confrontations with federal officers.

During the interview, Rufo questioned whether the Treasury Department has the authority to investigate nonprofit groups organized as 501(c)(3) organizations that are allegedly linked to criminal activity at protests.

“There are 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups that [are] funded by left-wing dark money, that are organizing—or at least at arm’s length encouraging—criminal activities. Criminal protests. Criminal obstruction of federal officers, including ICE agents. Is the Treasury looking into this? Is it something you have authority to crack down on, and what can we expect?” Rufo asked.

Bessent responded that the department is actively reviewing such organizations and believes it has the authority to do so.

“Yes, yes, and yes. So these groups that are engaging in this—we have the authority, and we are examining them. Because when you see these protesters, someone is financing them. There are safe houses. When you see the 300 people with the same laser that they’re using to blind DHS agents in courthouses in Portland, someone bought those lasers,” Bessent said.

“And again, what we do is follow the money—just like we followed it with the mafia, just like we follow it. We will find out who’s done this,” he added.

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Bessent also announced the creation of a whistleblower program aimed at uncovering financial wrongdoing connected to protest activity and nonprofit funding.

“I announced today that we are going to put in effect a whistleblower program. And my sense is that the rats will turn on each other,” Bessent said.

He referenced a recent fraud case as an example of how financial investigations can expose internal misconduct.

“As I believe you reported—or someone talked about in a roundtable—one of the Somali fraudsters tried to bribe a juror with $120,000. What turned out, she’d been given $200,000 to bribe the jurors, and she skimmed. It’s like the scorpion—it’s in their nature,” Bessent said.

The interview has drawn attention from researchers who have long tracked the flow of money behind protest movements.

Seamus Bruner, director of research at the Government Accountability Institute, has previously briefed President Donald Trump on nonprofit funding networks during a White House roundtable focused on Antifa.

“We have identified dozens of radical organizations, not just the decentralized Antifa organizations, but dozens of radical organizations that have received more than $100 million from the Riot Inc investors,” Bruner told the president during that briefing.

Bruner and Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer have published research examining nonprofit funding tied to protests and riots across the United States.

Their work focuses on tracing financial support from wealthy donors and nonprofit networks to activist groups involved in large-scale demonstrations.

✊ Indivisible Project as a Protest Vehicle: Indivisible, the official organizer of the “No Kings” protests, received $14.06 million in contributions in 2023 alone, including from dark money intermediaries like Arabella’s Sixteen Thirty Fund and billionaire donors. pic.twitter.com/gNnphNVUH6

— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) June 13, 2025

“Treasury’s crackdown on radical left NGOs is the direct payoff from Zero Hedge reporting and the October White House roundtable exposing Antifa and the dark money machine behind the protest industrial complex. From Soros’s slush funds to the Arabella and Tides radical funding networks, the Trump administration is finally following the billions fueling the chaos and obstruction of ‘Riot, Inc.’ Time to drain the swamp of these nonprofit nihilists and tax-exempt terror pipelines,” Bruner said.

Separate reporting by the Capital Research Center, a think tank that tracks foundations, charities, and nonprofit organizations, has raised additional concerns about the scale of funding flowing through certain philanthropic networks.

The group recently reported that George Soros’ Open Society Foundations has funneled more than $80 million into organizations it says are linked to terrorism or extremist violence.

The Treasury Department has not released specific details about which nonprofit organizations are under review or what enforcement actions may follow.

Bessent’s comments, however, indicate that financial investigations are underway and that federal authorities are focusing on identifying the sources of funding behind coordinated protest activity.

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