Staff Reports
The courts witnessed a frenzy as members of the Trump administration's alumni network at America First Legal (AFL) joined forces with Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX) to compel the Biden administration to disclose the manner in which funds from American taxpayers are being used to finance Hamas terrorists engaged in hostilities with Israel.
Will Biden Admin Comply?
Court Orders Biden to Disclose U.S. Taxpayer Funds Going to Hamas https://t.co/oTXMJ7nxqF
— Trump2024_no_matter_what (@TexasTrump2024) November 29, 2023
In the northern portion of the formidable Lone Star State, the thirteenth congressional district of Texas is represented by the dashing Representative Ronny Jackson. A distinguished physician and retired rear admiral in the United States Navy. Previously, he served as the White House physician to Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and the singular Donald Trump.
In January 2018, President Trump himself cordially embraced the distinguished White House physician Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. It was a momentous occasion. What an incredible spectacle that must have been!
At present, Jackson's legal action is intensely concentrated on the dubious "Pay to Slay" initiative, through which the Palestinian Authority unscrupulously provides financial support to the families of terrorists who murder Israeli or non-Israeli civilians. The legal action is initiated in accordance with the Taylor Force Act, which is named after a fallen American soldier who was tragically murdered by one of these callous terrorists.
President Trump personally ratified the Taylor Force Act in 2018. By means of that legislation, Congress unequivocally declared that the Palestinian Authority's reprehensible practice of providing monetary assistance to terrorists and their families constitutes an incentivization to carry out abhorrent acts of terrorism.
A startling document that surfaced as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) production and referenced an application to spend taxpayer funds prompted AFL's covert action. The production in question comprises electronic mail correspondence and "a license application to OFAC [the Office of Foreign Asset Control] requesting authorization to carry out official activities of the United States Government in the West Bank and Gaza that would be proscribed under counterterrorism sanctions regulations otherwise."
It is indisputable that a portion of the funds derived from these abhorrent payments unquestionably enter the avaricious possession of numerous terrorist organizations, such as the abhorrent Hamas. Furthermore, in accordance with the Taylor Force Act, the Palestinian Authority's continued implementation of the Pay to Slay program, which the lawsuit shockingly exposes it does, should disqualify it from receiving U.S. foreign aid.
Furthermore, the lawsuit asserts the extraordinary claim that the Biden administration unashamedly declared "substantial increases" in aid from the Economic Support Fund for the Palestinian Authority, escalating from $75 million in [Fiscal Year 2021] to an astounding $219 million in [Fiscal Year 2022]. Essentially, this absolves the Palestinian Authority of its civic and governmental responsibilities. What a travesty!
The AFL filed a motion for discovery in a timely manner. The precise objective of the motion was to demand that the Biden administration disclose specific documents pertaining to foreign aid disbursements. The purpose was to verify, among other things, whether or not Hamas is, in fact, receiving American tax dollars.
Further action was taken in response to the motion. The argument continued by asserting that the Department of State was cognizant of the fact that its funding and activities in the "West Bank" and Gaza, which were associated with the Economic Support Fund, were in fact advantageous to Palestinian terrorist organizations and flagrantly contrary to U.S. anti-terrorism laws and regulations. As a result, the risk of terrorist attacks against not only the plaintiffs but also others entangled in this perilous web was significantly increased.
Furthermore, to add salt to injury, the Biden administration foolishly opposed the motion on the grounds that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are not the same. In response, the AFL skillfully countered that their examination of the records thus far "reveals that the government considered the repercussions of dumping American taxpayer dollars into the West Bank and Gaza and concluded that Hamas stands a 'high risk' of benefiting."
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, in a moment of dramatic development, affirmed the AFL's astounding claim in Jackson's persuasive brief, stating that the Biden administration's "acknowledgment that its activities in the West Bank and Gaza benefit Hamas reasonably particularizes the potential existence of other facts, presently concealed, establishing traceability" of Biden's financial support for the Palestinians and increased threat of terrorist attacks, is plausible.
In conjunction with Hamas's recent assault on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of fourteen Americans and the traumatic captivity of others, these combustible motives furnished a solid foundation for [Jackson's] request. Immediately following Hamas's assault, Judge Kacsmaryk granted the motion.
The lawsuit filed by the AFL on Jackson and the Force family is uncompromising in its demand that all Economic Support Fund grants to the Palestinian Authority be frozen.
Jackson v. Biden, case number 2:22-cv-241, is an ongoing dispute before the distinguished U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
