AFL Files Amended Complaint against President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken to Enforce the Taylor Force Act and to Stop U.S. Funding of Palestinian Terrorism; Highlights Biden’s Knowledge that Funding the PA and UNRWA Supports Terrorism

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) announced the filing of a First Amended Complaint against President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for violating the Taylor Force Act. Taylor Force, a West Point graduate and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist.

The original complaint was filed on December 20, 2022. The Court denied the Defendants’ motion to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ case on February 2, 2024. The amended complaint alleges that the Biden Administration illegally reversed the Trump Administration’s ban on Palestinian funding, spending approximately $500 million U.S. tax dollars for “Economic Support Funds” in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”), and another $1 billion for the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) to directly benefit the Palestinian Authority (PA). It further alleges that the Biden Administration knowingly subsidized the PA’s “pay-to-slay” bounty system, the expansion of Hamas’s military capabilities in Gaza, and UNRWA’s material support for Palestinian terrorism.

Evidence that the Biden Administration Knowingly Subsidizes Palestinian Terrorism:

In 2018, the Trump Administration terminated Economic Support Funds for the benefit of the PA and stopped making payments to UNRWA because it supports terrorism. Accordingly, it complied with the Taylor Force Act. The amended complaint alleges that the Biden Administration illegally reversed course to knowingly subsidize Palestinian terrorism.

The Biden Administration’s massive UNRWA funding was particularly problematic. The amended complaint cites UNRWA’s reported employment of hundreds of terrorist group members and affiliates; hosting of facilities for terrorist command and control centers, weapons storage depots, and rocket launching platforms; and financing of radicalizing and indoctrinating Palestinian children to murder Jews and destroy Israel.

The amended complaint cites evidence obtained from ongoing Freedom of Information Act investigations of the Department of State establishing that the Biden Administration was well aware that it was supporting Palestinian terrorists with U.S. taxpayer dollars. The Department’s internal emails demonstrate that the Administration waived American anti-terrorism regulations to carry out its spending plans, knowing that there was a “high risk” Hamas would benefit from the spending.

Based on the Biden Administration’s own reports, it has obligated or spent approximately $1.5 billion in Gaza and the West Bank since January 2021.

The Biden Administration Overlooked the Diversion of Aid Funds to Hamas

The Biden Administration worked closely with the United Nations to increase the flow of funds and “reconstruction” goods into Hamas-ruled Gaza.

However, the Biden administration knew that these so-called “reconstruction” goods were routinely diverted to build Hamas’s tunnels and rockets. For example, on October 18, 2023, in the aftermath of 10/7, Biden perversely announced $100 million in “humanitarian aid” for Gaza and the West Bank, the United States Agency for International Development Office of the Inspector General issued a “Fraud Awareness” notification stating that there is a “high-risk for potential diversion and misuse of U.S.-funded assistance [that could] fall into the hands of foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) including, but not limited to, Hamas.”

According to the amended complaint, U.S. intelligence agencies were aware that the increased flow of U.S. and international aid into Gaza and the West Bank substantially enhanced Hamas’s offensive capabilities, and the 10/7 attack was materially supported by that aid.

Evidence of the Biden Administration’s Broad Anti-Israel Agenda

The Biden Administration’s decision to shovel money into the PA and Gaza was one part of a much broader anti-Israel agenda. In addition to subsidizing Palestinian terrorism, the Biden Administration directly interfered in Israeli elections and domestic affairs and took substantial steps to undermine and overturn the Trump Administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city.

Through its litigation, AFL uncovered internal Department of State emails showing that Biden appointees touted the Biden Administration’s Israeli election interference “progress.”

In 2017, the Trump Administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city. However, as the amended complaint points out, the PA opposes Israeli control and rejects the idea that Jews have any historical or religious connection to the city.

Accordingly, to directly benefit the PA, Biden officials began using U.S. funds and taking extraordinary political steps to undermine Israeli control over the city. For example, Biden officials attempted but failed to stop Israelis from celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem,

deployed “an entire team on the ground,” according to the leftist J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami, in emails to Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, to undermine Israeli sovereignty,

and even monitored municipal zoning disputes to eviscerate Israeli authority.

AFL is proud to represent Stuart and Robbie Force, parents of Taylor Force, Sarri Singer, the survivor of a Hamas terror bombing of a Jerusalem municipal bus, and Congressman Dr. Ronny Jackson (TX-13) in this important case.

Statement from Reed D. Rubinstein, America First Legal Senior Vice President:

“According to the Supreme Court, money is terrorism’s lifeblood. The Biden Administration knew that by spending $1.5 billion in Gaza and the West Bank, it was violating the Taylor Force Act and subsidizing Palestinian terrorists. The Administration knew that UNRWA and the PA were both corrupt and facilitated, supported, and celebrated Palestinian terrorism. Yet it funded them anyway. It also knew that Hamas’s tunnels, weapons, and rockets were supported by international “humanitarian” aid, including aid from the United States. Yet it poured money into Gaza regardless. The October 7 atrocities were, in part, a natural, ordinary, and predictable consequence of Biden’s illegal, irrational, and disgraceful policies,” said Reed D. Rubinstein.

Read the Amended Complaint here.

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