AG Bondi ordered FBI to compile list of Americans by political viewpoint
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a Justice Department memo ordering the FBI to compile a list of Americans and groups engaged in acts constituting "domestic terrorism." The memo targeted individuals expressing opposition to immigration enforcement, support for mass migration and open borders, and adherence to radical gender ideology. Bondi directed the FBI to establish a cash reward system for informants and retroactively investigate conduct from the past five years.
Actors
Attorney General Pam Bondi's December 4, 2025 memorandum represents a significant escalation in weaponizing federal investigative authority against political speech. The directive operationalizes President Trump's National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), ostensibly targeting "domestic terrorism" but in practice defining lawful political viewpoints — opposition to immigration enforcement, support for LGBTQ+ rights, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christian sentiment — as terrorist ideologies.
The memo's authorization of cash rewards for informants and retroactive investigation powers creates infrastructure for mass surveillance and political targeting under the guise of national security. By conflating constitutionally protected speech with terrorism, Bondi weaponizes federal law-enforcement authority to suppress opposition to administration policies. This violates the foundational democratic principle that investigative and prosecutorial power must be deployed based on evidence of criminal conduct, not political alignment.
Why we recorded this
Government officials investigating, prosecuting, or surveilling citizens based on their political speech or beliefs — rather than evidence of criminal conduct — violates the core democratic ideal that law applies equally to everyone. When the FBI compiles lists of Americans by ideology and offers cash rewards for informants on political viewpoints, investigative authority becomes a weapon for suppressing dissent. The rule of law requires that decisions about investigation and prosecution are made on evidence, not ideology.
Sources
- Leak: FBI List of Extremists Is Coming — Ken Klippenstein Substack primary accessed June 20, 2026
- AG Bondi, Trump outline plans to address 'antifa,' domestic terrorism — The Hill secondary accessed June 20, 2026
- Leaked memo shows Attorney General Bondi ordered FBI to compile list of domestic terrorism groups — Democracy Now! investigative accessed June 20, 2026
See also
- AG Bondi directed FBI to target Americans expressing opposition to immigration enforcement, LGBTQ+ rights, anti-capitalism
- FBI searched home and office of former national security adviser Bolton; Trump privately directed investigation toward vocal critic
- FBI probes Democratic lawmakers for First Amendment-protected video on military constitutional duties
- DOJ indicts Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts of fraud over $3M informant payments
- Southern Poverty Law Center moves to dismiss DOJ fraud indictment as vindictive prosecution