In brief
In a bold move, President Donald Trump has directed his administration to investigate financial backers of what he refers to as 'left-wing terrorism', targeting prominent Democratic donors George Soros and Reid Hoffman. This initiative is led by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Taskforce and aims to disrupt networks funding domestic protests and political violence. Critics denounce these actions as politically motivated attacks on civil society and free speech.
President Donald Trump on Thursday directed his administration to crack down on backers of what he dubbed 'left-wing terrorism,' naming two top Democratic donors as he alleged without evidence a vast conspiracy to finance violent protests against the government.
Trump's directive put the FBI's Joint Terrorism Taskforce in the lead and announced that the effort would span multiple agencies across the administration including the Treasury Department, 'to identify and disrupt financial networks that fund domestic terrorism and political violence.'
The pursuit of what the president said were the funders of 'agitators and anarchists' marks another instance of Trump utilizing the powers of his office to challenge political rivals. When pressed by a reporter about possible targets, he named two prominent Democratic Party donors — billionaires George Soros and Reid Hoffman.
'If they are funding these things, they're going to have some problems,' Trump stated.
Trump had threatened such an initiative following the assassination earlier this month of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and a shooting outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Dallas. Authorities have identified the suspected gunmen in each case, but no information has been made public that indicates they were part of a wider network.
In a statement released before Trump's announcement, Soros' Open Society Foundation rebuffed the claims, stating that its activities are peaceful and lawful. They characterized the accusations as politically motivated attacks aimed at silencing dissent and undermining First Amendment rights. Hoffmann, who co-founded PayPal and LinkedIn, could not immediately be reached for comments.
