Overview

• Aakash Singh, a senior lawyer in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, directed multiple U.S. attorneys to prepare investigative plans targeting the Open Society Foundations.
• The memo listed potential charges including material support for terrorism, arson, wire fraud and racketeering, and it was sent to offices in California, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Detroit.
• Justice Department officials defended the move as a public‑safety priority to investigate organizations that conspire to commit violence or other federal crimes.
• Open Society Foundations said it condemns terrorism, denies funding it, and called the reported effort a politically motivated attempt to silence civil society and chill protected speech.
• The directive referenced a Capital Research Center report alleging more than $80 million in grants to groups tied to extremist or violent actions, while a separate presidential memo ordered an interagency push to cut off alleged funding networks and publicly named George Soros and Reid Hoffman, though no OSF‑related charges have been announced.