Lawmakers are seeking to expose foreign nationals who may be funneling money and donations through tax-exempt organizations to political committees as the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would revise reporting requirements for tax-exempt groups.The Foreign Funding Transparency Act, which passed 23-18 in the committee last Wednesday, would require tax-exempt organizations to collect and report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) donations received from foreign nationals."For far too long, foreign influence and interference have plagued our tax-exempt sector," committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement."Foreign donations have no place in American politics, particularly when the sole goal is to manipulate our public discourse, promote propaganda and support violence."Smith noted that many of the protests and demonstrations that take place across the U.S.
appear to be grassroots but are actually well-organized and well-funded, often by groups within what he described as "shadowy networks.""As the Ways and Means Committee conducted its investigation into the nation’s tax-exempt sector, it became clear that shadowy networks of well-funded organizations have been enjoying lucrative tax benefits for decades, while simultaneously accepting donations and direction from foreign nationals," Smith added."From the outside, it looks like a movement, but once you see how the money flows, it becomes clear that this is a machine," he added. The bill’s passage came just a week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for global cooperation at a summit in Washington to combat far-left political terrorism.SHANGHAI SABOTAGE: INSIDE SINGHAM'S SECRET STRATEGY TO DEMONIZE AMERICA"For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot – a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left," Rubio said.
"Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wi...