A new investigation by the Government Accountability Institute details the flow of funds from consent decree settlements overseen by the Department of Justice into progressive non-profits engaged in political activity.

GAI published its findings in a report entitled, “Follow The Money: How The Department of Justice Funds Progressive Activists.”

The Government Accountability Institute conducted an in-depth examination of the nature of settlement agreements between U.S. financial institutions and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and designated nonprofits, the destination of much of the settlement money. The DOJ has instituted a reiterative process that provided significant funding for nonprofit “community organizers” through a pattern of extortive lawsuits. The threat of a federal lawsuit, protracted litigation, negative public relations and, in some cases, criminal prosecution, has prodded private businesses – primarily financial
institutions – to surrender millions of dollars to these organizations at the DOJ’s direction – often at the expense of those supposedly aggrieved by the banks’ actions. The DOJ has curated an opaque system wherein appointed attorneys can legally extract money from the private sector and redistribute the funds to third-party organizations outside of the appropriations process—an unprecedented and extraordinary disregard for congressional authority.