SCOOP: FBI Director backs Sen. Cruz’s Stop FUNDERs Act following Charlie Kirk's assassination
Sen. Ted Cruz scores a major win for the rule of law during Kash Patel's hearing.
FBI Director Kash Patel made waves during his first of two hearing on the Hill this week, but one particularly important exchange flew under the radar.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) asked Patel if it “would aid your ability to prosecute these matters if Congress passed into law the Stop FUNDERs Act and if rioting was added to the list of predicate offenses for RICO,” to which Patel replied “yes.”
Patel’s endorsement of the Cruz-authored legislation follows a tumultuous week in American politics, in which Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk was murdered in Utah at a public event.
The full name of Cruz’s legislation, the Stop Financial Underwriting of Nefarious Demonstrations and Extremist Riots Act, suggests its purpose. Cruz’s office explained that the legislation “adds rioting, as defined by the federal anti-riot statute, to the list of RICO predicate offenses, allowing the Department of Justice to use the full suite of RICO tools against entities who fund or coordinate violent interstate riots.”
“Every American has the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, but not to commit violence,” Cruz said at the time of the bill’s introduction. “Domestic NGOs and foreign adversaries fund and use riots in the United States to undermine the security and prosperity of Americans. My legislation will give the Department of Justice the tools it needs to hold them accountable, and I urge colleagues to pass it expeditiously.”
The bill was immediately sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R., Texas), Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.), Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.), Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), Mike Lee (R., Utah), and Josh Hawley (R., Mo.).
During the hearing itself, Cruz emphasized the difference between criminalizing speech, which is impermissible to do, and criminalizing conduct, which is allowed.
“Nazis and Klansmen can march in the streets, and even though their speech is bigoted and horrible and racist, the First Amendment protects it,” Cruz said. “Conduct, however, is not protected by the First Amendment, particularly conduct that is violent. Conduct that is threatening others, that is harassing others, that is injuring — or in this case, murdering others — is most assuredly not protected by the First Amendment.”
To that end, Cruz urged the Trump administration to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. “They've committed acts of violence all over the country, and the shell casings have multiple references to slogans that Antifa has popularized,” he said. “I believe there is considerable money funding, and I would note that I've introduced legislation called the Stop FUNDERs Act, which would add rioting to the list of predicate offenses under RICO.”
Patel assured Cruz that he is looking into funding sources; Cruz thanked him, adding that “cutting off the money will make America much safer, and that is the core job of the FBI.”
Elsewhere during the hearing, Cruz also lambasted Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee — namely Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) for their theatrics.
“I have to say,” Cruz told Patel, “it used to be that to see theater you had to go to the Kennedy Center. Now, apparently you need only go to the Senate Judiciary Committee and see our Senate Democrats berating the director of the FBI…Politics is not new in the United States Congress, but what is remarkable is [that] Senator Booker was…furious [at] Director Patel for successfully doing his job.”