Mike Steger argued that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading an effort to scrutinize nonprofit organizations and the financial structures that allow money to move into political operations while shielding the identities of original donors.

"Scott Bessent isn't just running Treasury right now. He's running an autopsy on the deep state machine and their electioneering charities," Steger said.

"A quiet political war operating behind the scenes, not polling in August, not the theater of political catwalks."

Steger said the effort centers on following political money and determining how nonprofit structures are being used.

"Following the money, where it comes from, who controls it, and what happens when it's scrutinized, what started as a charitable foundation over a century ago has become the financial architecture behind the political takeover and destruction of the United States," Steger said.

Steger pointed to remarks Bessent made during a July 16 State Department meeting on political terrorism.

According to Steger, Bessent warned that legitimate nonprofit structures can be exploited to conceal illicit financing.

Steger said organizations such as Arabella Advisors and the Sixteen Thirty Fund demonstrate how nonprofit structures can move money between tax-exempt organizations and political operations.

"For 20 years, groups like Arabella Advisors have run the largest network of dark money nonprofits in the country, groups like the Sixteen Thirty Fund that exist for one purpose: take tax-deductible donations and put them into a charity, then move that money to an affiliated political operation that's legally allowed to run partisan campaigns, and there's no requirement to ever disclose who gave the original dollar," Steger said.

He characterized that structure as "A shell game" and alleged that overlapping leadership allows organizations with different tax classifications to function as a single political operation.

Steger cited one example from 2024 in which he said a charity reported only $532 in office expenses and no employees while three board members simultaneously operated another group that received $20 million from the charity.

"So that's not two organizations; it's one operation wearing two different tax statuses," Steger said.

Steger also pointed to Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, claiming his political operation received nearly $800,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

He further discussed CAIR and allegations involving other nonprofit organizations while arguing that Treasury is increasingly examining whether tax-exempt status is being properly used.

Steger said the administration's efforts include Treasury's Form 990 Transparency Initiative, announced in April.

"This forces every tax-exempt group to finally disclose where their money actually goes," Steger said.

He also cited a National Security Presidential Memorandum signed by President Donald Trump following Charlie Kirk's assassination, which Steger said directed scrutiny toward tax-exempt entities suspected of financing political violence or domestic terrorism.

"This is political warfare," Steger said.

"And we know Bessent can wage this kind of war because he's already doing it on a bigger stage."

Steger connected the domestic effort with Bessent's Operation Economic Outcast against Iran, arguing that both strategies depend on tracing financial networks and cutting off the institutions that facilitate them.

But Steger said his argument extends beyond today's nonprofit organizations.

He traced the legal foundations of the modern tax-exempt system to 1913 and the creation of the Rockefeller Foundation.

"The legal structure that made this treasonous operation possible goes back to the same legislation that created the personal income tax and ended McKinley's tariffs in 1913," Steger said.

He said the Rockefeller Foundation received its charter from New York after Congress declined to provide one and argued that the broader tax system established that year allowed foundations to accumulate and deploy capital over generations.

Steger also cited a 1962 investigation by Texas Democratic Rep. Wright Patman, who examined hundreds of foundations and raised concerns about their economic influence.

"His report cataloged a pattern across the entire sector, and it found that foundations engaged in short sales of securities, speculation in commodities, manipulation of stock prices, and attempts to gain control of entire businesses," Steger said.

Steger said the nonprofit sector has since expanded dramatically, citing figures indicating nearly 2 million tax-exempt organizations existed in the United States as of 2022 and employed 12.8 million people.

"This is the NGO complex, and you can't run a productive nation with this kind of parasite sucking the life out of your country while also controlling the political culture," Steger said.

He described large foundations including Ford, Bloomberg, Hewlett, Open Society and Rockefeller as major pools of capital, while organizations such as Tides and Arabella serve as distribution networks capable of moving money toward smaller organizations.

Steger also pointed to Colorado's political transformation beginning in 2004, when wealthy donors built a network of nonprofits focused on voter information, canvassing, research and political messaging.

He noted that Republicans controlled the governorship, both U.S. Senate seats and five of seven House seats at the beginning of the effort, while Democrats had captured the governorship, both legislative chambers and a majority of the congressional delegation by 2008.

Steger ultimately framed Bessent's actions as part of a much larger battle over whether political power should rest with citizens or permanent institutions possessing substantial financial resources.

"The difference between globalism and the nation-state is how we view the individual human being," Steger said.

He concluded by arguing that America's political and economic system should prioritize individuals and national development rather than institutions designed to exist indefinitely.

"The United States represents the first case in human history where a society was built that didn't have a ruling class," Steger said.

"For mankind to thrive, the foundations have to be eliminated."