Scott Bessent eyes ‘top cop’ for Treasury to crack down on shady

Scott Bessent eyes ‘top cop’ for Treasury to crack down on shady

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to recruit a new “top cop” to police nonprofits that “use and abuse” their charity standing to dodge taxes, The Post has realized.

Bessent needs to appoint a new senior official at the Treasury Department to scrutinize the funds of charities that interact in extreme political actions, lobbying, or even fraud.

The secretary’s just lately departed chief of employees, Michael Friedman, was tasked with drumming up some names for doable candidates before he left to be part of the SEC three weeks in the past.

Bessent’s just lately departed chief of employees, Michael Friedman, was tasked with drumming up a listing of names who may fill the place for the three remaining years of the Trump administration. REUTERS

It comes after The Post broke the news in December that the Treasury Department was eyeing a crackdown on nonprofit organizations that take pleasure in soft tax-free advantages amid fears that some teams have been funneling “dark money” into shady political actions.

The official will probably be “empowered to act as an interagency government task force to tackle ‘abusive’ 501(c)3 organizations,” said a source briefed on the matter, referring to the elements of the IRS code that govern how charities are handled.

“That person has to be committed for the next three years and not someone who is going to use it as a stepping stone,” the insider added.

A Treasury Department spokeswoman referred The Post again to a Jan. 9 assertion that said Secretary Bessent “remains committed to preventing fraudulent nonprofits from taking advantage of the American taxpayer.”

The search for a charity cop comes after the Minnesota Somali fraud scandal, when it emerged that nonprofits falsely claimed to present meals to needy kids and skimmed off federal funds to spend on luxurious journey and real property.

During the scandal, a letter signed by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chair of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee, alleged that a charity called Feeding Our Future had ties to the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.

The chief of the group was convicted last 12 months of hatching a $250 million welfare fraud scheme. It shuttered its doorways in February 2022, when the FBI first opened an investigation into allegations of corruption.

The New York Post cowl for Dec. 30, 2025.

The Israel-bashing Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, has also come under scrutiny.

The Post broke the news earlier this month that it may lose its nonprofit standing under Bessent’s crackdown.

CAIR, a key organizer of pro-Palestinian rallies on US campuses, has lengthy been accused of accepting cash from entities shut to Qatar.

In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the group a terrorist group, accusing it of getting direct ties with Hamas and vowing to have the state legal professional basic “sue to shut them down” in Texas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis adopted swimsuit in December.

The Post has sought remark from CAIR.

“Of course, there are conservative groups that are set up as nonprofits, as well, but they aren’t being funded by foreign adversaries,” said one well-placed source.

CAIR has lengthy been accused of receiving cash from entities with shut hyperlinks to Qatar. REUTERS

A 501(c)(3) is a nonprofit group acknowledged by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt because it operates for a public profit.

This designation covers teams devoted to non secular, charitable, scientific, literary, or instructional functions.

While political campaigning is banned, lobbying is permitted, however only within very strict limits.

If a corporation devotes an excessive amount of time or cash to influencing laws, it dangers being reclassified as a different sort of entity that doesn’t provide tax deductions to its donors.

Jonathan Schanzer, the government director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that any steps taken against such teams must be “apolitical” and grounded in information and legislation.

“If this looks like it is score settling on the part of the administration, it will undermine the whole effort,” he told The Post. “It’s got to be done by the book.”

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