"Yes, Yes, And Yes": Bessent Signals Crackdown On Dark-Money NGO Protests 'Just Like We Did With The Mafia'
The left's ability to rapidly stage highly organized 'pop-up' protests in response to just about any political incident is uncanny (remember Robert Creamer? "Wherever Trump and Pence are going to be, we have events, we have a whole team across the country that does that."). Often, organic protests that average Americans have every right to engage in (even if we disagree) are co-opted and amplified by 'organizers,' and blessed by the media, which runs damage control when needed ('mostly peaceful!'). Other times they orchestrate entirely scripted 'astroturf' campaigns to manufacture outrage.
The common denominator always seems to be dark-money NGOs, often funded by foreigners who would relish America's demise so they can rebuild it in their image. Chaos, collapse, control.
We're witnessing this in real time, as the left's protest-industrial-complex predictably fired up the in multiple blue cities hours after an ICE agent shot a "ICE Watch" activist in Minneapolis. And now we're seeing mobs hunting down federal agents.
As regular readers know, we've spent much of the past year tracking dark money NGO networks fueling the Democratic Party's pressure campaigns – what we characterize as color revolution-style operations targeting President Trump and the America First agenda. Those constant protests, and even riots, link back to left-wing billionaires and NGO networks in the US, Europe, the Americas, and even China, all seemingly working in unison and hellbent on fomenting chaos on city streets to kill Trump's agenda.
Enter Bessent
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat down with journalist Christopher Rufo this past week. Among the topics discussed were left-wing nonprofits, with Bessent acknowledging that "we are examining" NGO activities and funding structures…
Here's the key snippet from the Rufo-Bessent conversation that is likely to keep dark-money-funded nonprofits up at night:
Christopher Rufo:
There are 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups that [are] funded by left-wing dark money, that are organizing—or at least at arm's length encouraging—criminal activities. Criminal protests. Criminal obstruction of federal officers, including ICE agents. Is the Treasury looking into this? Is it something you have authority to crack down on, and what can we expect?
Scott Bessent:
Yes, yes, and yes. So these groups that are engaging in this—we have the authority, and we are examining them. Because when you see these protesters, someone is financing them. There are safe houses. When you see the 300 people with the same laser that they're using to blind DHS agents in courthouses in Portland, someone bought those lasers.
And again, what we do is follow the money—just like we followed it with the mafia, just like we follow it. We'll find out who's done this.
I announced today that we are going to put in effect a whistleblower program. And my sense is that the rats will turn on each other.
As I believe you reported—or someone talked about in a roundtable—one of the Somali fraudsters tried to bribe a juror with $120,000. What turned out, she'd been given $200,000 to bribe the jurors, and she skimmed. It's like the scorpion—it's in their nature.
EXCLUSIVE: Treasury @SecScottBessent tells me that the Trump Administration will launch investigations into left-wing nonprofits that serve as a front for violent protests and criminal obstruction of ICE operations. It’s time to stop left-wing terrorism in America. pic.twitter.com/roorsk4XLA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) January 9, 2026
Let's revisit Seamus Bruner, Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute, who mainstreamed the NGO debate nationwide by briefing President Trump at the Antifa Roundtable last fall.
✊🏻Indivisible Project as a Protest Vehicle: Indivisible, the official organizer of the “No Kings” protests, received $14.06 million in contributions in 2023 alone, including from dark money intermediaries like Arabella’s Sixteen Thirty Fund and billionaire donors. pic.twitter.com/gNnphNVUH6
— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) June 13, 2025
"We have identified dozens of radical organizations, not just the decentralized Antifa organizations, but dozens of radical organizations that have received more than $100 million from the Riot Inc investors," Bruner told the president.
Way more than $100M of US taxpayer money
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 8, 2025
Bruner, along with Peter Schweizer, has been following the money for years, with their latest NGO-tracking data showing nonprofits funding protests and riots nationwide.
Bruner commented on Bessent's interview…
🐀 Totally agree with @SecScottBessent — “R.A.T.S.” stands for Rockefeller, Arabella, Tides, and Soros (and their ilk). Follow the money!! 💰 https://t.co/2TLEdhR5GM
— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) January 10, 2026
Bruner told us, "Treasury's crackdown on radical left NGOs is the direct payoff from Zero Hedge reporting and the October White House roundtable exposing Antifa and the dark money machine behind the protest industrial complex. From Soros's slush funds to the Arabella and Tides radical funding networks, the Trump administration is finally following the billions fueling the chaos and obstruction of 'Riot, Inc.' Time to drain the swamp of these nonprofit nihilists and tax-exempt terror pipelines."
Via Schweizer's reporting…
Also, Capital Research Center, a think tank tracking foundations, charities, and other nonprofits, recently revealed that George Soros' Open Society Foundations (OSF) empire has funneled over $80 million into groups linked to terrorism or extremist violence.
Hiding beneath the nonprofit world are left-wing activist networks pushing what we describe as an "invisible insurrection."
Now that Bessent is examining these revolutionary networks, the lingering question is whether some of these household-name billionaires' foundations, which have funded riots and protests, will finally be held accountable for underwriting years of chaos on city streets.
The administration should take retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn's advice …
General Flynn Calls For National Address From Trump On Color Revolution Threat https://t.co/5aSdpnc7ZI
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 27, 2025
2026 is shaping up to be a volatile year. Protests in Minneapolis are just the appetizer for what the Democratic Party wants to unleash. As we've warned earlier, they are seeking another 'George Floyd'-type riot.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/10/2026 – 15:45