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Secretary declines to discuss ongoing IRS-DOJ litigation; says probe of Antifa funding is ongoing
Summary
Asked about an IRS settlement and reports the funds were rolled into a DOJ "weaponization fund," the secretary declined to comment because of ongoing litigation and referred questions to the acting attorney general; he also said Treasury and the FBI are investigating funding sources for Antifa and that guidance on nonprofit disclosures is being emphasized.
A reporter asked the Treasury secretary to explain an IRS settlement that, the reporter said, had been rolled into a Department of Justice fund described in reporting as a "weaponization fund." The secretary declined to discuss ongoing litigation and referred further questions to the acting attorney general.
"There's ongoing litigation, so it'd be inappropriate for me to comment," he said, and later added that the Department of Justice represented Treasury and the IRS in the matter and directed reporters to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for more information.
On the related question of investigations into the funding of Antifa, the secretary said Treasury has worked with the FBI since October and that the effort is ongoing. He said the IRS has issued guidance on Form 990, the nonprofit tax form, requiring charities to disclose certain grant recipients and that that change will encourage nonprofits to know and disclose their grant recipients.
The secretary argued that such disclosures could help reveal violent or rights-suppressing grant recipients, but he did not provide specifics about ongoing investigative findings. The briefing also included an exchange in which the secretary said he would take no further questions on the matter and closed the briefing shortly afterward.
Reporters pressed on whether the secretary could outline processes for how funds were moved; the secretary reiterated the limitation due to active litigation and emphasized that the administration considers targeting of citizens for political reasons unacceptable. No independent evidence or new documents were presented during the briefing.
