Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATION—Comer, Foxx warn Treasury about 'compulsory process' for their documents request, (Aug 22, 2024)

By Sherri M. Schroeder, J.D.

The chairpersons of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Education and the Workforce are seeking Suspicious Activity Reports for groups associated with “illegal and antisemitic activities.”

Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce have jointly sent a letter to Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, reiterating their request to the Treasury Department for Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) concerning groups “associated with illegal and antisemitic activities, including on college campuses around the country.” In a previous request through a letter dated May 14, 2024, the chairpersons asked the Treasury for SARs on 20 different groups to aid in the Committees’ investigation of the sources of funding and financing “for the groups organizing, leading, and participating in pro-Hamas, antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American protests with illegal encampments on American college campuses.” However, as related in the Committees’ Aug. 21, 2024, letter, the Treasury has not produced any of the requested documents, and the Committees are threatening the use of “compulsory process” if the documents are not produced within a week.

“Considering the serious nature of recent illegal and antisemitic events related to entities named in this investigation, it is imperative that Treasury immediately cooperate and provide the requested documents,” write the Committees in their latest letter. “We reiterate our May 14, 2024, request that Treasury produce the responsive SARs as soon as possible, but by no later than August 28, 2024. If Treasury continues to fail to cooperate with this investigation voluntarily, the Committees are prepared to utilize other means to obtain this information, including use of compulsory process.”

The letter also notes that the Committees narrowed the scope of production for the documents on June 6, 2024, as an accommodation to the Treasury, but the Treasury still has not produced the requested documents.

The Committees’ letter goes on to note that “illegal and antisemitic activities” have continued off-campus over the summer. According to the Committees, four of the entities listed in their request—Westchester Political Action Committee Foundation (WESPAC Foundation), Samidoun, Jewish Voice for Peace, and The People’s Forum—are sponsors or active participants in recent Washington, D.C. events.

According to the Committees, the group Palestinian Youth Movement, which is fiscally sponsored by WESPAC Foundation and “regularly organizes” events with Samidoun per the Committees, recently took credit for releasing maggots and activating fire alarms in the Watergate Hotel in D.C. in July, which is where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was staying. On the same day, members of Jewish Voice for Peace illegally occupied the Cannon House Office Building, resulting in the arrest of more than 200 people, according to the Committees’ letter. On July 24, 2024, The People’s Forum was a “prominent organizer” of a protest against Prime Minister Netanyahu “which quickly devolved into vandalism of monuments and assault on federal law enforcement officers in Columbus Circle in Washington, D.C.,” according to the Committees.

Both Committees are requesting the document under House Rule X, which gives the Oversight and Accountability Committee broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” and gives the Education and Workforce Committee legislative and oversight jurisdiction over “education and labor generally.”

Companies: Jewish Voice for Peace; Palestinian Youth Movement; Samidoun; The People’s Forum; Westchester Political Action Committee Foundation

LegislativeActivity: BankingOperations BankSecrecyAct CrimesOffenses FinancialStability OversightInvestigations