House Republicans on Wednesday asked the Justice Department and FBI to investigate whether a Democratic super PAC has any financial ties to the nationwide wave of attacks on Tesla dealerships.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, penned the letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel requesting a probe into five non-governmental organizations that are backed by ActBlue, a fundraising powerhouse for the Democratic Party.
“These attacks, which seem to involve coordinated acts of vandalism, arson, and other acts of violence, seriously threaten public safety,” wrote Ms. Greene, who is the chairwoman of the Department of Government Efficiency subcommittee.
She claimed that media reports have suggested an Antifa hand in attacks on Tesla dealerships and charging facilities, which have taken place in Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts and Colorado.
“I urge the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to prioritize a thorough investigation into these matters,” the congresswoman wrote in a letter signed by her and the other seven Republican members of the DOGE panel.
The five NGOs singled out by Ms. Greene — Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and the Democratic Socialists of America — were first linked to ActBlue last week by Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk.
Mr. Musk claimed an investigation found ActBlue and the five NGOs were linked to the Tesla Takedown protests, which have sprouted up around dealerships ever since President Trump tapped the billionaire tech magnate to root out wasteful spending in the federal government.
Mr. Trump said Tuesday he would label the attacks on Tesla facilities as domestic terrorism because the belligerents were “harming a great American company” for political reasons.
“Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them,” Mr. Trump said at the same White House event where he bought a Tesla as a show of support for Mr. Musk.
Troublemakers and Indivisible Project have both been linked to the “Tesla Takedown” protests, but group organizers came out against accusations that they support the vandalism.
“We are a nonviolent grassroots protest movement. We oppose violence and destruction of property,” the group said in a statement obtained by The Washington Times. “Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism. They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed.”
Assailants have shot up empty showrooms and destroyed vehicles with Molotov cocktails during the spate of vandalism attacks across the country since Mr. Trump took office with Mr. Musk at his side.
Four Tesla vehicles were also set ablaze Monday in Seattle, but authorities haven’t determined a cause of the fire yet.
Police have only made a few arrests in the nearly dozen attacks.
That includes last week’s arrest of Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, who authorities said targeted a dealership in Salem, Oregon, by using Molotov cocktails to set a vehicle on fire in January and shooting up the business in February.
Mr. Lansky is currently behind bars.
In Loveland, Colorado, police arrested transgender woman Lucy Grace Nelson, 40, after she was linked to several property crimes directed toward a dealership in the city between Jan. 29 and Feb. 11.
Police said the suspect lit Molotov cocktails as well as spray painting the word “Nazi” on the dealership’s entrance sign.
She was released from federal custody last week on a promise to return to court.
“I couldn’t be more disappointed with a criminal justice system that would release an individual on a [personal recognizance] bond who placed incendiary devices at a Loveland business,” Loveland Police Chief Tim Doran said in a press release.
“It’s incredibly challenging to keep our citizens safe from copycat behavior when there are no repercussions to lawlessness,” Chief Doran said.
Some of the participants in Tesla Takedown protests this month did go on to commit crimes.
Following a March 3 protest at a dealership in Owings Mills, Maryland, police said the business was tagged with graffiti that said “No Musk” and a symbol that resembled a swastika.
Hundreds of protestors demonstrated in front of a Tesla dealership in Manhattan last weekend, resulting in six arrests for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to the New York Police Department.
