Attorney General Pam Bondi establishes task force to prosecute Oct. 7 crimes

[Pelican Press 0]

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Attorney General Pam Bondi establishes task force to prosecute Oct. 7 crimes

In one of her first official acts after being sworn in on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi

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dedicated to investigating the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 ****** terror attacks and seeking justice for their victims.

The scope of the body’s work goes beyond the attacks that took place more than a year ago. Bondi described a need to address “the ongoing threat posed by ****** and its affiliates, both domestically and abroad.”

The remit of Joint Task Force October 7 will not be limited to terrorist violence —it is also tasked with prosecuting “antisemitic civil rights violations” and “other federal crimes” committed by ****** supporters domestically, including on U.S. college campuses. The body will also seek the extradition of ****** leaders who have faced charges for their roles in perpetrating the Oct. 7 attacks,

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by the Biden administration but that did not result in arrests.

“This administration is taking the threats to our community very, very seriously, which we are grateful for,” Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network, which provides security guidance to Jewish institutions across the U.S., said of the task force.

The establishment of the new body was one of

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Bondi sent to Department of Justice employees on Wednesday, offering the clearest glimpse yet into the issues she plans to prioritize as America’s top law enforcement official. Many are reflections of hard-line policies that Trump backed in his campaign:

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to liberal “sanctuary cities,” prioritizing immigration offenses,

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the death penalty in federal offenses and

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to a major concern for the civil rights division.

The announcement of the Oct. 7 task force suggests Bondi views Islamist terrorism as a major threat and urgent issue to address.

The task force, which will be supervised by the deputy attorney general, will be staffed with FBI agents who have expertise in terrorism investigations. It will also work in conjunction with counterparts in Israel, as well as colleagues at other federal agencies, including the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service.

“Greater investigation and due diligence behind the perpetrators or supporters of the perpetrators of the 10/7 attacks is something that every department and agency should take seriously,” said George Selim, the Anti-Defamation League’s executive vice president, who previously worked to combat violent extremism at the Department of Homeland Security. “This is in line with many of the policies and positions that ADL has strenuously advocated for post-10/7.”

Another

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from Bondi is likely to result in a major shake-up of enforcement of laws meant to prohibit undue foreign influence in the American political system. She limited the ability of prosecutors to bring charges related to violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that requires people engaged in work on behalf of foreign governments to disclose their employer and their compensation.

In 2019, the DOJ

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an official department priority. The statute was used to prosecute several Trump allies, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chair. In 2022, a federal jury acquitted Trump donor Tom Barrack of illegally

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of the United Arab Emirates.

“I think there is a perception in Trump world that FARA was used aggressively to target some of the presidents supporters,” said Matthew Sanderson, an attorney who works on FARA-related issues at the law firm Caplin Drysdale. “There is that perception out there, and I think thats whats happening here.”

Bondi was

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as a foreign agent for Qatar, which she represented as a lobbyist starting in 2019. She said at her confirmation hearing in January that she is “very proud” of lobbying for the Qatari government, though she did not disclose this work in her official nomination documents.

The Foreign Influence Task Force, a body created in 2017 in response to Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, will be disbanded, according to one memo. In 2020, the task force

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by two Iranian nationals to influence that year’s presidential election.

Bondi’s moves to shift the DOJ’s priorities are standard procedure for a new presidential administration, but come as some have raised concerns about disruptions at the FBI, including efforts to retaliate against agents and prosecutors who worked on investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“The administration is well within its rights to refocus DOJ resources to address those security issues it deems highest priority, but that cannot succeed without a strong FBI, and at the moment the Bureau feels targeted like never before,” said Matthew Levitt, who held counterterrorism roles at the FBI and the Treasury Department. 

“I speak to a lot of people in federal law enforcement,” said Mitchell Silber, a former senior NYPD official and the executive director of the Community Security Initiative, which enhances security at New York Jewish institutions. “This is unprecedented, and it is sending tremors through the FBI special agent community, not knowing what to make of this.”

Bondi has not indicated that she is shifting resources away from the FBI’s investigation of hate crimes, but she did not distinctly identify fighting hate crimes as a priority of the FBI.

“We strongly urge the FBI and DOJ to continue to investigate perceived antisemitic incidents as hate crimes, and also to prioritize the broader body of hate crime reporting,” said the ADL’s Selim. “We know that there is significant underreporting [of hate crimes] from major cities and municipalities across the United States.”

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