Watchdog Group Exposes Biden Administration Skirting Law on Funding Terrorists
- October 17, 2023
Karen Townsend, Hot Air
The Biden administration is skirting a law that prohibits funds going to terrorist groups. In August it was revealed in State Department documents that officials acknowledged $360M they wanted to send to Palestinians might be used to fund terror. They sent it anyway.
The Washington Free Beacon story, published in August, addressed how the Biden administration skirts the Taylor Force Act. This act stops aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until the PA stops paying stipends through the Palestinian Authority Martyr’s Fund to terrorists and families of deceased terrorists. This law was signed by Trump in March 2018. At the time, it was thought that it would cut about a third of U.S. foreign aid payments to the PA. In August 2018, the United States cut more than $200M in direct aid to the PA. And in August 2018, the U.S. stopped giving aid to UNRWA, which was a cut of about $300M.
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), a nonpartisan watchdog group, requested the documents that were the subject of the Washington Free Beacon’s story. A press release from PPT explained.
The State Department tried to keep the documents away from the public. Remember when Biden said his would be the most transparent ever? Good times, good times. PPT had to sue to get access to them. PPT originally submitted a FOIA request in May 2021. A lawsuit had to be filed in January 2022.
PPT Director Michael Chamberlain released a statement on how Biden’s skirting of the Taylor Force Act ties in with the Hamas attack on Israel 10 days ago.
“It’s clear the State Department knew it was playing with fire when attempting to skirt the Taylor Force Act and sent money it recognized was likely to find its way into the hands of Hamas,” said Protect the Public’s Trust Director Michael Chamberlain. “Despite State’s stonewalling at multiple stages, PPT was able to obtain the records that exposed this tragic reality. These revelations have helped stoke public outrage that has prompted the Biden administration to exercise renewed caution not only over future funding to Gaza but also the release of $6 billion more into the hands of the Iranian government.”