Biden administration delays in providing documents for investigation into anti-Israel non-profits
The Biden administration’s Treasury Department has thus far declined to deliver documents requested by a House committee investigation into 20 pro-Palestine non-profit groups, including SJP and JVP.
'If Treasury continues to fail to cooperate with this investigation voluntarily, the Committees are prepared to utilize other means to obtain this information, including use of compulsory process,' the lawmakers wrote.
The Biden administration’s Treasury Department has thus far declined to deliver documents requested by a House committee investigation into 20 pro-Palestinian non-profit groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).
The original request for documents was made on May 14, but the Treasury Department has yet to comply.
On Aug. 21, U.S. Reps. James Comer and Virginia Foxx wrote a letter to Biden’s Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, describing the Treasury Department’s lack of responsiveness.
The letter explains that, in May, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and Committee on Education and the Workforce requested from the Treasury Department “Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) for certain groups associated with illegal and antisemitic activities, including on college campuses around the country.”
Yet, according to the two representatives, the department has “yet to produce a single document” pursuant to the initial request. “The Committees expect Treasury to produce these documents in full as soon as possible,” the lawmakers wrote.
In their letter to Secretary Yellen, the lawmakers reiterated the importance of the investigation into anti-Semitism and stated that, if the Treasury Department fails to comply, they will consider “other means” of obtaining the requested documentation, including a “compulsory process.”
“Considering the serious nature of recent illegal and antisemitic events related to entities named in this investigation, it is imperative that Treasury immediately cooperate and provide the requested documents,” the lawmakers wrote. “We reiterate our May 14, 2014 request that Treasury produce the responsive SARs as soon as possible, but by no later than August 28, 2024.”
“If Treasury continues to fail to cooperate with this investigation voluntarily, the Committees are prepared to utilize other means to obtain this information, including use of compulsory process,” the letter concludes.
Reps. Foxx and Comer are not the only individuals attempting to make headway investigating pro-Palestinian student groups.
Recently, several families of victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel wrote to the Department of Justice asking for it to open an investigation into National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) for its alleged connections to Hamas.
“NSJP appears to fulfill the definition of an agent acting to advance the interests of the foreign political party and designated foreign terrorist organization Hamas within the United States,” the families wrote.
“Specifically, NSJP engages in political activities on college campuses across the country that are intended to influence U.S. public opinion in support of Hamas,” the letter continued.
Campus Reform has contacted the United States Department of Treasury for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
