FBI-IRS Task Force to Investigate Nonprofits Suspected of Funding Domestic Terrorism

FBI-IRS probes nonprofits for alleged terrorism funding amid growing evidence that tax-exempt charities promote anti-American radicalism and host terror-linked operatives

CBS News reported that the FBI and IRS are forming a joint investigative initiative focused on individuals and entities suspected of funding domestic terrorism or political violence. IRS Criminal Investigation confirmed that it is collaborating with the FBI, and CBS reported that the effort includes a ‘mission control command center’ based at the FBI with IRS-CI agents on one-year temporary assignments.

In March 2025, investigative researcher Ryan Mauro published a study through the Capital Research Center (CRC), arguing that dozens of tax-exempt nonprofits and university-recognized student groups were disseminating increasingly radical anti-American and anti-police rhetoric, including posts he classified as endorsing violence on U.S. soil

Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo on Dec. 4, 2025 directing federal law enforcement to prioritize domestic-terrorism investigations, including potential tax crimes involving “extremist groups” suspected of defrauding the IRS. Reuters reported that the memo targeted antifa and similar groups and directed the FBI to compile a list of entities that may be engaged in domestic terrorism.

Bondi's December 4 memo defined the scope expansively, listing targets as groups using "violence or the threat of violence to advance political and social agendas" including "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity"—suggesting that organizations engaging in such extreme ideological advocacy may also be pursued by federal law enforcement even absent direct involvement in violent acts.

The Nonprofit Infrastructure Problem

In his March 2025 CRC report, Mauro argued that anti-American and anti-police rhetoric had intensified among a cohort of 496 U.S.-based pro-Palestinian groups and activists, based on an analysis of posts across X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram

The findings are striking. Mauro reported that posts containing selected anti-American and anti-police terms rose 186 percent in the 15 months after Oct. 7, 2023, compared with the prior 15-month period. He also reported a 3,000 percent increase in posts endorsing violence within that coding framework, with those posts drawing 23.3 million views and 4.2 million engagements on X and TikTok.

The study identified terminology consistently deployed in violence advocacy: “globalize the intifada” (referencing Palestinian suicide bombing campaigns), “bring the war home” (calling for domestic violence), and dehumanizing language targeting police as “pigs.” Posts using “AmeriKKKa”—equating the United States with the Ku Klux Klan—surged 3,400 percent following October 7.

Comparison of Anti-American Keywords in Social Media posts by “Pro-Palestine” groups. Source: Capital Research Center

Charities at the Center

Most significantly for investigators, the study found that the majority of these groups operate within the nonprofit structure. Among the 78 groups Mauro identified as the most prolific sources of toxic rhetoric, 26 were 501(c)(3) charities or projects of 501(c)(3) charities, 35 were college chapters, two were 501(c)(4) entities or projects, and 15 had unknown legal status. Mauro wrote that the college chapters are recognized student groups and that in all or nearly all cases their schools also provide funds from student fees.

Among 30 individual activists identified as primary promoters of violent rhetoric, 19 either work as college employees or serve in nonprofit leadership positions. Specific organizations identified include Code Pink (a 501(c)(3) charity), Palestinian Youth Movement (formerly fiscally sponsored by WESPAC Foundation, now sponsored by Honor the Earth), and Within Our Lifetime (also formerly WESPAC-sponsored).

The IRS has previously ruled that organizations whose activities “demonstrate an illegal purpose which is inconsistent with charitable ends” fail to qualify for tax-exempt status. Groups organizing protests in which participants are “urged to commit violations of local ordinances”—such as blocking traffic or disrupting government operations—cannot operate “exclusively for charitable purposes.”

Coordinated Activism Amid Federal Scrutiny

Amid Operation Epic Fury, Jewish Onliner has documented how tax-exempt nonprofit networks have mobilized in opposition to the joint U.S-Israeli military campaign. The ANSWER Coalition called for a National Day of Action on March 2, 2026, coordinating protests in major cities worldwide alongside American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), CODEPINK, and The People’s Forum. CODEPINK, stated in response to Operation Epic Fury that “Feminists must oppose U.S. Imperialism.”

On campus, the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition posted “Death to America” in Farsi on X, demonstrating how tax-exempt student organizations are deploying inflammatory rhetoric targeting the United States itself—precisely the pattern that prompted the FBI-IRS investigation.

Tax-Exempt Groups Host Terror-Linked Speakers

Many of these nonprofit organizations have repeatedly featured events with members or affiliates of U.S.-designated terror organizations. As Jewish Onliner previously reported, The Palestinian Youth Movement launched a campaign titled “Freedom for Palestinian Political Prisoners“ on March 15, 2026, at New York City’s People’s Forum, promoting an in-person screening of a live webinar featuring what the organization described as “first-hand testimonies from released political prisoners and lawyers.”

The event showcased Salah Hammouri, a French-Palestinian lawyer with documented membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. The program also featured Mohamad Nafez Qaoud, a contributor to Hamas government-owned Al-Rai Radio.

This event exemplifies a pattern likely to intensify scrutiny of how U.S. tax-exempt venues and activist groups host programming involving speakers accused of ties to designated terrorist organizations.

Foreign Influence Operations Exploit the Same Infrastructure

In February 2026, House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith sent a records-demand letter to BreakThrough News ahead of a hearing on foreign influence in nonprofits, raising questions about the outlet’s tax-exempt status and whether its ties to Neville Roy Singham-linked organizations could implicate FARA. Smith’s letter says BreakThrough News received ‘millions of dollars’ from organizations linked to Singham and his business partners.

The convergence reveals a systemic vulnerability: the nonprofit structure has become a vehicle for both domestic radicalism and foreign influence operations. Whether federal law enforcement can effectively use tax-code and related enforcement tools to address organizations alleged to support political violence or substantial illegal conduct remains an open question.