adminThe Justice Department under the Trump administration has quietly moved from talk to action, instructing U.S. attorneys around the country to prepare plans to investigate the Open Society Foundations, the philanthropic network funded by George Soros. Multiple media reports say the directive, sent by a senior official in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, asked prosecutors to be ready to consider a range of crimes as they vet potential investigations.
According to the memo obtained by national outlets, prosecutors were urged to evaluate possible charges including material support for terrorism, racketeering, arson, and wire fraud — serious allegations that demand more than partisan shrieks, they demand proof. If the facts hold up under traditional prosecutorial standards, those are the kinds of charges that can break a criminal enterprise and strip corrupt actors of their ability to hide behind layers of nonprofit shell games.
What triggered the push was a recent investigative report by the Capital Research Center alleging that Open Society funneled more than $80 million to groups that the report says have ties to extremist violence or rhetoric. That report names organizations and grants that, if accurately characterized, could provide the documentary trail prosecutors need to open real cases — and Washington should not pretend there is nothing to see.
Unsurprisingly, Open Society has flatly denied the charges and called the move politically motivated, insisting its grants support lawful human-rights work around the world. Those denials are predictable from a group that has spent decades shaping the policy environment in which it operates; denying inconvenient facts does not make them go away.
Conservatives have every reason to applaud a DOJ that follows evidence rather than ideology. For years the left has weaponized private foundations to funnel cash into activist networks that radicalize and destabilize American cities, and the rule of law must be the antidote to that chaos rather than a political casualty. The administration’s move to press prosecutors to prepare is the kind of decisive action Americans voted for — and it should be pursued with rigor, not rushed for headlines.
If prosecutors are serious, the playbook is straightforward: subpoena records, trace grant flows, build predicate acts for RICO, and pursue asset restraints and forfeiture where laws have been broken. Regulators can also examine tax-exempt status and grant compliance; civil remedies and criminal prosecutions together are how you dismantle an illicit funding network, not by mere rhetoric from cable TV. Recent reporting and the administration’s own rhetoric suggest those tools are now on the table.
Expect the usual howls about “chilling dissent” and “weaponizing the DOJ” from left-wing media and their billionaire backers. Those complaints ring hollow when compared to evidence of funds flowing into groups that promote property destruction, glorify violence, or have uncomfortable links abroad — free speech is never a license to bankroll chaos. The country deserves a sober, thorough investigation that follows documents and testimony wherever they lead.
This moment is a crossroads: either our institutions enforce the law equally and expose corrupt influence, or we accept that powerful donors can bankroll disruption with impunity. Conservatives should demand that prosecutors do their jobs carefully, transparently, and relentlessly — because protecting law-abiding Americans and restoring order is the true meaning of patriotism.
