Liberal dark-money groups funding the anti-Israel protests may be violating the law, and are “defrauding the American people and putting Jewish students and faculty at risk,” argues Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

“This is not just spontaneous student unrest. It is coordinated and funded by a powerful network of anti-Israel advocates,” Hawley maintains in a Tuesday letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“This pattern is disturbing. It is also almost certainly illegal. As IRS Revenue Ruling 75-384 established, no organization may retain its tax exemption if it backs protests at which members are urged to commit acts of civil disobedience.”

“Across the country, campuses are in chaos,” Hawley starts his letter to Garland. “It is time for you to open an investigation into the reason why, and who’s funding it.”

This is not the first time Hawley has pressed Garland to look into the third-party funding of the protests, having likewise urged Garland to investigate it not long after the savage attack on Israeli civilians last Oct. 7.

“Now, we have answers – just not from your Department,” Hawley wrote Garland on Tuesday, citing a report from Politico.com that some funding of the groups staging vile and violent protests comes from “Biden’s biggest donors” – “some of the biggest names in Democratic circles: Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker.”

Politico couched the sources of funding as “surprising.” Was Hawley surprised?

“No, it’s the biggest non-surprise ever,” Hawley told The Heartlander in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

“These are the same people who backed the BLM riots, by the way, the people who helped get Joe Biden elected, the people who tried to change our election laws in all of the states and the federal government, and now are backing the pro-Hamas terrorist protesters. 

“We need to find out exactly where this money is coming from – who’s behind it and who’s getting it. The American people deserve a full accounting. … These spoiled kids taking over buildings, smashing windows, tearing down statues, chanting death to Jews, death to Israel, this is unbelievable, and they’re getting paid to do it by these liberal dark money groups. Let’s follow the money and see who’s behind it.”

This is much more, and much more sinister, than free speech and protected protest, Hawley says.

“It is illegal in the United States of America for a nonprofit organization to fund lawbreaking activity. If these kids were just engaging in free speech that’d be one thing, but they’re not.  

“When you go out there and violate property law, when you commit acts of vandalism against property, you threaten life and property, you tear down statues, you smash windows, you threaten murder to Jewish students, that’s not protected by the First Amendment. That’s illegal.  

“And these dark money groups, liberal dark money groups, are funding this illegal activity, and they’re doing it knowingly. I mean, they’re just absolutely funneling the money to them. It’s a geyser of money. We need to know exactly who is behind it, and they need to be held accountable for this.”

Politico reports the recipients involved with the protests include “Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Both are supported by the Tides Foundation, which is seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros and was previously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”

Politico reports the Pritzker family, described as heir to the Hyatt Hotel empire, “founded the Libra Foundation, which funds smaller nonprofits that address criminal justice, environmental and gender justice issues. … Some of the groups funded by Libra have also been involved in protests against Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

“For instance, The Climate Justice Alliance took part in pro-Palestinian marches that have used the phrase “Genocide Joe.” Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity, another group backed by the Libra Foundation, promotes pro-Palestinian demonstrations on its website. And a third, the Immigrant Defense Project, was part of a protest in Washington that saw 13 activists arrested by Capitol police after demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

“The Tides Foundation, funded by the Prizkers, has also supported the Adalah Justice Project, which has also been part of protests at Columbia University. The group wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that ‘universities are hedge funds, deeply embedded with weapons manufacturers.’ Tides also supports Palestine Legal, a legal defense fund that is offers legal assistance to ‘students mobilizing against genocide.’”

Does Hawley think Garland’s Department of Justice will do anything about all this?

“Oh, I doubt they’ll do anything because it implicates Biden and all of his cronies,” Hawley says. “These are the people who support Joe Biden. If you want to know why Biden refuses to send aid now to Israel while he’s sending aid to Hamas, if you want to know why he won’t just condemn the campus protesters and call out the National Guard to protect students on campus, look no further than this. 

“All of his money-people are supporting the pro-terrorists. All of his money-people are with Hamas. So is he. 

“ I mean, it is unbelievable. It shows you the moral rot at the root of the Biden administration – and, sadly, today’s Democrat Party.”

Why is it important that we know who’s funding the pro-Hamas protests?

“I think we deserve to know, voters deserve to know, which liberals who are out there trying to re-elect Joe Biden, who are out there trying to change our voting laws, which of them are also trying to destroy this country – trying to threaten Jewish Americans, trying to build up Hamas and fund these student protesters. 

“I think the public needs to know, particularly because it is a whole network of liberal dark money groups that are trying to involve themselves in all of these issues, from voting issues to the re-election campaign of the president. People need to know what’s actually going on here, and who’s behind the money.”

Do Hawley’s nonpolitical friends and Missouri constituents know how radical the far-left has become?

They’re seeing it on their televisions and phones, he says.

“I think now people are seeing the videos.  And you look at this and it’s like, this is unbelievable. I mean, to watch these kids go and smash these windows, climb up on buildings, destroy statues – and then project onto buildings images of them calling for the death of Jews, calling for jihad. 

“I mean, my gosh – in the United States of America? 

“I tell you what: we ought to revoke the student visas of any student who’s here from overseas and is doing this stuff. They ought to go home. Anybody who is here as an unlawful immigrant and at college, and there’s a bunch of them, they ought to be deported. And everybody else ought to be expelled from school and lose all of their future job prospects.  

“We should send a clear message here, we’re not going to put up with this. I mean, this is America. We are not going to put up with this.”