Pam Bondi tells law enforcement agencies to investigate antifa groups for ‘tax crimes’

The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, instructed law enforcement officials on Thursday to investigate antifa and other supposed domestic terror groups, and specifically directed them to search for “tax crimes” the groups may have committed, according to a memo obtained by the Guardian.

The document signals how the Trump administration and Bondi are ramping up efforts to crack down on leftwing groups. Antifa, short for antifascist, is not a clearly defined organization, but rather a loose network of activists. Trump signed an executive order in September declaring it a domestic terrorism organization – something legal experts say he does not have the authority to do.

“These domestic terrorists use violence or the threat of violence to advance political and social agendas, including opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality; and an elevation of violence to achieve policy outcomes, such as political assassinations,” Bondi wrote in the document.

Bondi’s Thursday memo was sent to all law enforcement agencies and prosecutors as part of an effort to implement Trump’s executive order and an accompanying presidential memorandum. In addition to prioritizing investigations, she instructed all federal law enforcement agencies to “review their files and holdings for Antifa and Antifa-related intelligence and information and coordinate delivery of such material to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for review” within 14 days. It also instructed the FBI to come up with a list of domestic terror groups and calls for a disseminating intelligence on antifa.

The memo, earlier reported by Reuters and Bloomberg, also suggested the Trump administration was continuing to look for ways to revoke the tax-exempt status of leftwing groups, a move that could cripple their philanthropic efforts. After the killing of Charlie Kirk, the department sought to look for ways to investigate the Open Society Foundations, a major funder of liberal causes.

“Federal law enforcement and federal prosecutors should consider any applicable tax crimes in cases in which extremist groups are suspected of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service. As it receives referrals for violations of tax obligations, the [justice department] should investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute those responsible,” the memo says.

Bondi also instructed the justice department to prioritize grants for states that have programs focused on combating domestic terrorism.

In October, the Trump administration filed terrorism charges against a handful of activists who were arrested during a protest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas where a police officer was shot. Prosecutors allege those charged were part of a “North Texas antifa cell” – making it the first time that terrorism charges were filed in connection with antifa. Family members and friends of some of those charged in the case have told the Guardian that those charged did not intend to commit violence and did not consider themselves part of antifa.

Last month, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, designated four self-described anti-fascist groups in Europe as foreign terrorist organizations, a move seen to bolster Trump’s efforts to crack down on similar groups in the US.