WASHINGTON, DC- The daily assault on the Trump administration continued on Wednesday as Reuters breathlessly reported that the Department of Justice canceled “hundreds of ongoing grants” intended for law enforcement programs, according to “four people familiar with the matter,” including “two of the people who were granted anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public.” This was of course intended to portray the Trump administration as being "anti-cop."
The “sources” said the grants funded programs such as mental healthcare for police and support programs for victims of crime.
The grants, issued under the Office of Justice Programs, were approved under the Biden administration, and the agency awarded a total of $4.4 billion worth of grants in FY-2023. Reuters didn’t know the total sum of the canceled grants, but “believed” it was “at least tens of millions of dollars.”
The DOJ offered a 30-day window for grantees to appeal its decisions, with several grant recipients telling Reuters they would pursue that option.
Some of the “targeted” programs, Reuters reported, included grants that support crime victims, “including transgender victims”: hotlines used by crime victims; grants to fight human trafficking that have gone to organizations [read NGOs] working with immigratns; programs to curb juvenile delinquency and safeguard incarcerated youth; and funding for state-run hate-crime reporting.
In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the cancellation of some grants reflected the Trump administration’s priorities.
“Grants for programs that do not align with the administration’s priorities were rescinded, but this Department of Justice will continue to ensure that services for victims are not impacted and any recipient will have the ability to appeal and restore any grant if direct impact on victims can be established,” Bondi said in a statement to Reuters.
Talk about burying the lede. AG Bondi made it clear that while some grants were rescinded, if grantees could demonstrate an adverse impact on victims, they would be restored. In other words, there were going to be guidelines to receive the grants.
Catholic Charities, for example, which has been a proponent of Biden’s open border madness and which has promised to defy the administration’s illegal alien crackdown, could possibly be an NGO that is administering human trafficking grants. The DOJ would appear to be well within its rights to deny grants to such an organization.
Mathew Silverman, the National President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, said AG Bondi has showed overwhelming support for the needs of law enforcement:
"AG Bondi and this administration have made it very clear - they will have the backs of local, state and federal law enforcement. That means everything from funding and training to equipment and mental health services and support. But what they will not support is a waste of taxpayer money for poorly vetted organizations that might be mismanaging funds and preventing them from actually having an impact on the people who need support the most."
Kyle Reyes, owner of The 1776 Project, which owns the largest police news outlet in the world including Law Enforcement Today and Blue Lives Matter, doubled down on that.
"The previous administration was part of the party focused on defunding the police. We witnessed nothing but chaos and anarchy under them and a mass exodus of cops. We should absolutely question every penny that moved through that corrupt administration under the guise of 'helping police'. What kinds of discriminatory DEI requirements were attached to it? Which Democrats got to make a huge payday in the form of grants without actually doing their job?" Reyes questioned.
One organization that has been the recipient of DOJ grants is the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership, whose executive director, Richard Morales, said the DOJ canceled two grants worth about $6 million. What Morales failed to mention is that the organization receives grants from other federal agencies, such as Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor, along with state funding from California and Colorado. It also receives funding from foundations, corporations, and private donors.
The National Center for Victims of Crime said it would lose nearly $3 million used to fund crime-victim hotlines and initiatives to provide support and counseling. CEO Renee Williams said, “the hotlines are going away.”
NCVC stated in February, begrudgingly announcing that it was mandated to comply with current executive orders. Perhaps that is why the DOJ is pulling their grant money, because they were not aligning with President Trump’s executive orders and therefore the administration’s priorities. Again, because revocation of the grant could have a disparate impact on crime victims, asking the DOJ for a reprieve might be in order.
One program that initially had its grants pulled, Freedom Network USA, had its funding restored, Reuters grudgingly admitted, while taking credit for the restoration.
On Tuesday, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Maureen Henneberg sent an email to staff, noting that the canceled grants “no longer support the department’s priorities.”
She continued that new funding priorities will address “certain law enforcement operations, combating violent crime, protecting American children, supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and promoting coordination of law enforcement efforts at all levels of government.”
One of those organizations that “doesn’t align” with the administration’s priorities is the far-left American Bar Association, which on Thursday sued the DOJ, claiming it “illegally” terminated federal grants in “retaliation” for the ABA’s public meltdowns over Trump adminsitration policies.
The suit, filed in the anti-Trump federal court in Washington, DC, seeks to block the DOJ from canceling $3.2 million in grants used to train (leftist) lawyers to represent victims of domestic and sexual violence, claiming a First Amendment violation. The ABA is seeking a temporary restraining order blocking the termination of the grants. There is little doubt the far-left DC circuit will grant the ABA’s motion.
It would be a kick if Judge James Boasberg were “randomly” selected to hear this case, too.
Another DOJ official said staff carefully examined the grants to ensure victim services would not be affected, and instead targeted grants that funded “ambiguous programs” that didn’t directly assist crime victims.
The purpose of the Reuters headline was to of course portray the narrative that the Trump administration is cutting law enforcement grants and therefore does not support law enforcement (as if the Democrat Party, which is currently apoplectic over an El Salvadoran MS-13 member, does). That is, of course, absurd.
In fact, buried deep inside the Reuters piece is an important piece of information–the DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services was not touched, “one person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.”
Likewise, it is unknown whether the Office of Violence Against Women, a third separate grant-making office under the DOJ, was touched.
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