Ernst Skewers IRS for Indifference to Antisemitic Violence

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) demanded Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel explain why his agency blew off her request to investigate whether pro-Hamas groups that broke the law or encouraged others to do so should lose their tax-exempt status.

The letter follows the IRS shrugging off Ernst’s initial request for the agency to examine if any of the 501(c)(3) organizations backing violent antisemitic protests were in violation of the terms of their tax exemptions.

“It is unfortunate that in the months since October 7, 2023, we have seen individuals engage in horrible criminal acts, including vulgar antisemitism as part of their misguided support of Hamas. As you know, Hamas—which still holds American citizens hostage in the Gaza Strip—is an Islamist-supremacist terrorist organization hell-bent on perpetrating a genocide against the Jewish people in Israel and around the world, including in the United States. When tax-exempt entities throw their lot in with criminal organizations like Hamas, it is your responsibility to enforce tax law, without partisanship,” wrote Ernst.

Ernst also requested that Werfel answer how many investigations have been opened into nonprofit organizations supporting violent pro-Palestinian protests and whether any of those investigations have resulted in the IRS revoking those organizations’ tax-exempt status.

Click here to view the full letter.

Background:

After the October 7 attacks on Israel, Ernst led her colleagues in demanding the Department of Education uphold its legal obligations to ensure Jewish and Israeli students are not subjected to discrimination. She also sponsored the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act to cut federal funding for any college or university that allows antisemitic events to occur on their campus.

As cases of antisemitism on campuses started to increase, Ernst introduced the Students’ Bill of Rights to protect the First Amendment rights of students and stem discrimination at its source.

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