Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has formally requested the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), an activist group he describes as "virulently antisemitic."
The group is known for its controversial act of releasing maggots into the hotel room of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. Cotton's request is based on potential violations of the U.S. tax code, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon.
In his letter to acting IRS commissioner Scott Bessent, Cotton, who chairs the Senate Republican Conference, pointed out that the PYM has been receiving tax-exempt donations through a third-party nonprofit, Honor the Earth, in violation of U.S. law.
He wrote, "PYM receives funding from Honor the Earth, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. PYMs website states, 'We also accept checks payable to Honor the Earth' and says U.S.-based donations are tax deductible. I believe PYMs activities, particularly its support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas, should prevent it from receiving tax exempt donations."
Cotton further alleged that the activist group is operating outside the permissible scope of activities under U.S. tax code, as is Honor the Earth by sending funds to PYM. He urged the IRS to promptly investigate the PYM's funding sources for potential violations.
The PYM has been under congressional scrutiny for over a year due to its role as a leading organization promoting the pro-Hamas movement on college campuses nationwide. The group claimed responsibility for releasing a swarm of maggots and other insects inside the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., during Netanyahus stay in July 2024.
They posted a video of the incident on Instagram, captioned, "BON APPETIT!! MAGGOTS REPORTEDLY RELEASED ON THE CRIMINAL ZIONISTS WAR TABLE!"
This act prompted Republican Representatives James Comer of Kentucky and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina to request that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen investigate the PYM and 20 other anti-Israel organizations for suspected links to money laundering and terrorism financing.
The lawmakers noted that the group's primary financial support came from the Westchester Peace Action Committee (WESPAC) Foundation, which funded numerous anti-Israel groups before lawsuits exposed it as a key financier of the nationwide campus protest movement.
The Israeli government has accused the PYM of maintaining "close ties" with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. The PYM directed its donations through the WESPAC until May 2024, when both groups were named in a lawsuit for blockading Washington, D.C., traffic during an anti-Israel demonstration.
As legal pressure increased on the WESPAC, the PYM began soliciting donations via Honor the Earth, an Indigenous-led organization fighting to dismantle settler-colonialism, racial capitalism, white supremacy, and imperialism,' according to a report from watchdog group NGO Monitor.
Cotton emphasized this relationship in his letter to the IRS, stating, "it is the PYMs receipt of tax exempt donations that likely violates U.S. law."
He added, "An organization that supports terrorism, breaks U.S. law, and sows antisemitic discord should not receive any benefits from the American tax system. I ask you to immediately investigate both PYM and Honor the Earth and to take any actions necessary to remedy this situation."
Honor the Earth has also faced scrutiny. Its co-founder, Winona LaDuke, admitted in 2021 that a community organizer named Michael Dahl "probably" had sex with a Native American minor during his time as a camp counselor. Following a court order for Honor the Earth to pay $750,000 to a subordinate who alleged Dahl had sexually harassed her and accused the groups leadership of attempting to cover it up, LaDuke resigned and was replaced by Krystal Two Bulls.
Cotton also sent a copy of the letter to FBI director Kash Patel, who could authorize a parallel investigation into the PYMs public statements in support of terrorist groups and activities and support for anti-Israel protests in America.
The PYM is closely aligned with Students for Justice in Palestine, a campus organization whose student leaders across the country have harassed their Jewish classmates and called for "intifada" against Jews and Americans writ large. The PYM has also organized "events with the U.S. designated terrorist entity Samidoun," a front for the PFLP, Cotton wrote in his letter.
The organization issued a statement praising the violence two days after Hamass Oct. 7, 2023, terror spree. The statement read, "On October 7th, Gaza broke free. Palestinians in Gaza crossed the illegitimate border fence and reentered 1948 lands for the first time in many of our lifetimes.
Since that time, we have witnessed resistance efforts and protests spread to all of historic Palestine, including the West Bank ... We have a right to resist on our own land. May the memory of our martyrs continue to guide us on the steadfast path to liberation."
In August, Cotton separately petitioned the IRS to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations for violations of its tax-exempt status, citing the groups "ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood" and its leaders celebration of the October 7 massacres.
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