Treasury Sec. Swears They’re This Close to Finding Something on Antifa |
Treasury Sec. Swears They’re This Close to Finding Something on Antifa
Scott Bessent said there would be news coming in the next “weeks and months.”
The Trump administration says it’s reeeeeally close to figuring out who’s funding antifa. Who’s gonna tell ’em?
During a White House press briefing Thursday, the Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for an update on the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into antifa. “How close are you guys to figuring out who’s funding it?” she said.
“It is ongoing. We’ve made substantial progress. And I think in the weeks and months ahead, we’re gonna have a lot to report,” Bessent said.
Q: How close are you to figuring out who's funding antifa?BESSENT: We've made substantial process. I think in the weeks and months ahead, we're gonna have a lot to report. We're going to demand that nonprofits know their grant recipients. pic.twitter.com/o8Qf6wRSLw— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 28, 2026
Q: How close are you to figuring out who's funding antifa?BESSENT: We've made substantial process. I think in the weeks and months ahead, we're gonna have a lot to report. We're going to demand that nonprofits know their grant recipients. pic.twitter.com/o8Qf6wRSLw
There’s just one problem for Bessent’s loose timeline to deliver results: Antifa doesn’t formally exist. Antifa, which is short for “anti-fascist,” is a movement, not a group. The so-called organization lacks a central structure and instead functions as a loose network of individuals and small groups who act separately under the banner of opposing facism. Still, the Trump administration has insisted this so-called group is a major domestic terror threat.
On that front, Bessent claimed he could announce some slight progress: He said the IRS was now providing new guidance on 990 forms, requiring nonprofits to report the recipients of funding following the government’s (spurious) claims about the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“And we are going to encourage, or demand, that nonprofits know their grant recipients. So, if a grant recipient is violent, if they are suppressing people’s rights, then you are responsible for that,” Bessent said.
It was a particularly ironic answer from the secretary, who had, moments earlier, defended the creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund that could award funding to some of Donald Trump’s most dangerous allies, including the leader of a violent hate group.
Dem Governor Calls to Shut Down ICE Jail After Wild DHS Interference
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherill has called for an end to Delaney Hall amid mass protests outside the detention center.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill is calling for the Delaney Hall immigration detention center to be shut down after the Department of Homeland Security denied state health inspectors access to the facility.
“The New Jersey Department of Health today sought to conduct a health inspection of Delaney Hall, but it was denied full access and was allowed to inspect only a limited part of the facility,” Sherrill wrote on Thursday. “As I’ve said repeatedly, refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view. New Jersey believes in the rule of law, will uphold the Constitution, and Delaney Hall should be closed down. I am calling for ICE to immediately de-escalate the situation as I continue working to keep New Jersey residents safe.”
Since last Friday, around 300 detainees have reportedly been engaging in a labor and hunger strike inside the facility in protest of due process violations and inhumane conditions—in which at least one person has died. Denying state health inspectors access to the prison only exacerbates those allegations. There have also been protests outside the jail that have seen federal immigration agents pepper-spraying, tasing, and arresting protesters. In one incident over the weekend, agents pepper-sprayed Democratic Senator Andy Kim after he visited the detention center.
Delaney Hall is also where four Democratic politicians, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Representative Lamonica McIver, attempted to visit to conduct oversight last year. Baraka was arrested, and McIver is still facing criminal charges after the incident.
The Trump administration has completely denied that the hunger strike is happening, even as border czar Tom Homan threatened to force-feed prisoners participating in it.
“People detained at Delaney Hall are facing brutal and inhumane conditions. Their families and community members who are protesting their treatment, and the elected officials who are asking to inspect the facility, should not face pepper spray and rubber bullets for doing so,” the New Jersey ACLU wrote in a statement. “Our federal representatives—who have the congressional authority to conduct oversight visits of the facility—have instead taken pepper spray to their eyes and experienced abuse at the hands of federal agents.”
Delaney Hall is a for-profit private mass prison run by security company Geo Group, which contracts with the federal government.
Trump Treasury Secretary Flails When Grilled About Slush Fund
Scott Bessent attempted to shut down all questions about the fund.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gracelessly dodged questions about the $1.8 billion slush fund the Department of Justice awarded to the president and his allies.
During a White House press briefing Thursday, a reporter asked Bessent to comment on the process for developing the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” set up as part of a settlement for Donald Trump’s failing lawsuit against the IRS.
Surprise, surprise: Bessent’s response did not mention the fund at all.
“This is going to be the only question I take on this matter today. So, there’s ongoing litigation, so it’d be inappropriate for me to comment,” Bessent said. “President Trump is a great American who has endured more than 10 years—10 years—of nonstop harassment and weaponization from federal and state........