Trump and Allies Push to Use RICO Law to Target Liberals

President Donald Trump and his supporters are threatening to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to bring racketeering charges against left-wing groups they accuse of promoting violence, following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Some influential Republicans, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, are pushing to expand the law's powers by adding rioting to the list of offenses that could be used as part of a RICO probe by the Justice Department.

Key Takeaways:

• The proposed legislation, dubbed the STOP FUNDERs Act, would enable federal prosecutors to seek charges against and seize the assets of organizations and individuals who fund or coordinate riots that result in violence.
• Critics argue that the measure would dangerously lower the bar for government investigations into Americans exercising their right to peaceful demonstration and put everyday Americans at risk of being dragged into sprawling investigations.
• A prosecutor is more likely to charge people disrupting ICE arrests in Los Angeles with obstruction of justice, rather than pursuing racketeering claims, due to the complexity of proving RICO elements.
• Even RICO cases that fail can prove punishing for their targets, causing significant financial damage through litigation expenses.
• Trump has faced state RICO charges in Georgia over his attempt to reverse his 2020 election loss and has floated various actions against a network of organizations he accuses of organizing and funding riots.
• The Justice Department's Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has mentioned the potential of investigations into individuals who show up at the president's dinner and accost him with vile words and anger.
• Proponents of the Cruz bill view it as a necessary tool in the toolbox to dissuade people from funding violent acts, while opponents argue it would be a slippery slope and could be used against any organization.

Statistics:

• Trump has repeatedly talked about using RICO to target left-wing groups, despite no evidence of wrongdoing by these groups associated with Charlie Kirk's assassination.
• The proposed Cruz bill aims to amend the RICO law to add rioting to the list of offenses, expanding the law's powers to include financial seizure of assets.
• Since 1970, the RICO law has been used in 100 federal cases to prosecute organized crime, White-Collar crime, and civil RICO cases.
• Critics of the measure argue that using RICO to target peaceful protests would lower the bar for government investigations and threaten First Amendment rights.
• Both Senator Cruz and President Trump have publicly made attempts to associate the death of Charlie Kirk and attacks on Trump with violence and assign blame to specific groups and individuals.

Sources:

• (CNN)

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• "Bloomberg Business"
• "Real Clear Politics"