Scott Bessent eyes ‘high cop’ for Treasury to crack – Business News
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to recruit a new “top cop” to police nonprofits that “use and abuse” their charity standing to dodge taxes, The Post has realized.
Bessent needs to appoint a new senior official on the Treasury Department to scrutinize the funds of charities that have interaction in extreme political actions, lobbying, and even fraud.
The secretary’s just lately departed chief of employees, Michael Friedman, was tasked with drumming up some names for potential candidates earlier than he left to be a part of the SEC three weeks in the past.
Bessent’s just lately departed chief of employees, Michael Friedman, was tasked with drumming up a record of names who might fill the place for the three remaining years of the Trump administration. REUTERS
It comes after The Post broke the information in December that the Treasury Department was eyeing a crackdown on nonprofit organizations that get pleasure from soft tax-free advantages amid fears that some teams have been funneling “dark money” into shady political actions.
The official will probably be “empowered to act as an interagency government task force to tackle ‘abusive’ 501(c)3 organizations,” stated a source briefed on the matter, referring to the components of the IRS code that govern how charities are handled.
“That person has to be committed for the next three years and not someone who is going to use it as a stepping stone,” the insider added.
A Treasury Department spokeswoman referred The Post back to a Jan. 9 assertion that stated Secretary Bessent “remains committed to preventing fraudulent nonprofits from taking advantage of the American taxpayer.”
The search for a charity cop comes after the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal, when it emerged that nonprofits falsely claimed to present meals to needy youngsters and skimmed off federal funds to spend on luxurious journey and real estate.
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During the scandal, a letter signed by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chair of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee, alleged that a charity known as Feeding Our Future had ties to the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.
The chief of the group was convicted final yr of hatching a $250 million welfare fraud scheme. It shuttered its doorways in February 2022, when the FBI first opened an investigation into allegations of corruption.
The New York Post cowl for Dec. 30, 2025.
The Israel-bashing Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has additionally come underneath scrutiny.
The Post broke the information earlier this month that it might lose its nonprofit standing underneath Bessent’s crackdown.
CAIR, a key organizer of pro-Palestinian rallies on US campuses, has long been accused of accepting money from entities close to Qatar.
In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the group a terrorist group, accusing it of having direct ties with Hamas and vowing to have the state legal professional basic “sue to shut them down” in Texas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis adopted go well with in December.
The Post has sought remark from CAIR.
“Of course, there are conservative groups that are set up as nonprofits, as well, but they aren’t being funded by foreign adversaries,” stated one well-placed source.
CAIR has long been accused of receiving money from entities with close hyperlinks to Qatar. REUTERS
A 501(c)(3) is a nonprofit group acknowledged by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt as a result of it operates for a public benefit.
This designation covers teams devoted to non secular, charitable, scientific, literary, or academic functions.
While political campaigning is banned, lobbying is permitted, however solely within very strict limits.
If an group devotes an excessive amount of time or money to influencing laws, it dangers being reclassified as a totally different kind of entity that doesn’t offer tax deductions to its donors.
Jonathan Schanzer, the chief director on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that any steps taken towards such teams have to be “apolitical” and grounded in details and law.
“If this looks like it is score settling on the part of the administration, it will undermine the whole effort,” he informed The Post. “It’s got to be done by the book.”
