Hawley wants feds to investigate "left-wing dark money" groups

WASHINGTON -- Today, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging the Department of Justice to investigate  radical left-wing organizations and individuals funding anti-ICE protests—including those with possible ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

"I write to request that the Department of Justice open a comprehensive investigation into the funding and coordination of recent so-called 'grassroots' anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) campaigns in Minnesota and nationwide. Recent reports suggest that these campaigns, while presented as organic civil protest, are in fact substantially financed and professionally coordinated by wealthy left-wing organizations and individuals—including those with possible ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” Senator Hawley wrote.

He continued, “Recent reporting indicates that these protests are neither spontaneous nor decentralized. Instead, they reflect a coordinated national operation supported by layered nonprofit pass-through entities, fiscal sponsorship arrangements, and short-lived “grassroots” fronts designed to obscure donor identity, funding sources, and operational control. The scale, geographic simultaneity, messaging uniformity, and logistical sophistication of these operations strongly suggest centralized planning and financing inconsistent with lawful domestic advocacy.”

Senator Hawley concluded, "Given the public-safety and national-security implications, the Department’s immediate attention is warranted. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice promptly open a full investigation into these funding networks, identify any foreign influence, and hold accountable all individuals and entities that have violated federal law."

As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, Senator Hawley launched an investigation into the funding behind the Los Angeles riots and requesting the preservation of key information.

Read the full letter here or below. 

The Honorable Pamela Bondi
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530 

Dear Attorney General Bondi,

I write to request that the Department of Justice open a comprehensive investigation into the funding and coordination of recent so-called “grassroots” anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) campaigns in Minnesota and nationwide. Recent reports suggest that these campaigns, while presented as organic civil protest, are in fact substantially financed and professionally coordinated by wealthy left-wing organizations and individuals—including those with possible ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Recent reporting indicates that these protests are neither spontaneous nor decentralized. Instead, they reflect a coordinated national operation supported by layered nonprofit pass-through entities, fiscal sponsorship arrangements, and short-lived “grassroots” fronts designed to obscure donor identity, funding sources, and operational control. The scale, geographic simultaneity, messaging uniformity, and logistical sophistication of these operations strongly suggest centralized planning and financing inconsistent with lawful domestic advocacy.

This funding architecture mirrors the same NGO and donor networks that have repeatedly supported unlawful conduct across multiple jurisdictions, including violent anti-ICE actions in California and Oregon, the “Stop Cop City” riots in Atlanta, and antisemitic protests across the nation. In multiple recent anti-ICE protests, organized activity escalated beyond speech into interference with federal operations, intimidation of officers, riots, and acts of violence. These actions reflect deliberate efforts to obstruct lawful enforcement of federal law and pose serious risk to public safety.

If foreign-linked actors are providing funding, direction, or material support for political activity aimed at undermining federal immigration enforcement, such conduct may violate federal prohibitions on foreign influence such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, federal campaign-finance laws, and related criminal statutes. The use of domestic intermediaries to conceal the source, direction, or control of foreign-linked funding may constitute conspiracy and money laundering. Taken together, coordinated activity of this nature may amount to racketeering.

Given the public-safety and national-security implications, the Department’s immediate attention is warranted. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice promptly open a full investigation into these funding networks, identify any foreign influence, and hold accountable all individuals and entities that have violated federal law.

Sincerely, 

Josh Hawley
U.S. Senator