A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office that works with prosecutors to pursue drug cartels, war crimes, and money laundering is shifting resources to investigate antifa funding, as federal officials implement directives from President Donald Trump labeling it a “domestic terrorist organization.”
The office, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), has broad legal powers and works closely with Customs and Border Protection, the Justice Department, and intelligence agencies. It is one of many offices launched in the years that followed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to address national security threats, and it employs more than 7,100 special agents, spread across 220 U.S. cities and 53 countries.
In recent weeks, law enforcement officials at HSI have begun to look into left-wing funding networks, including fundraising platforms that Republicans have said are used by antifa-aligned groups, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials at HSI, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are also looking into how antifa might recruit activists, the people said.
