Answer: Why is the Trump DOJ criminal division investigating the organizers of the No Kings Protest? Isn't organizing and funding protests just freedom of speech?

For context, appointed U.S. Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro launched a “criminal probe” into the funding sources of the last protest just a couple of days after it happened alleging “Soros linked” “dark money” was behind the event. The probe used an obscure conservative think tank’s report about Open Society Foundation donations to organizations that partnered with No Kings protestors over the past decade as the jumping off point. While there is no evidence that the Open Society Foundation earmarked their donations for specific events like the No Kings protest or that their recipients such as Indivisible, MoveOn, and the ACLU earmarked funds for specific events, neither action would be illegal because funding civil society groups and protests is protected first amendment activity. Even if the Open Society Foundation earmarked grants to these organizations to be used to compensate protestors it would still be as legal as giving money to your favorite SuperPACs. In the light of reality, this criminal probe is nothing more than a politically motivated fishing expedition and bears a striking resemblance to the Trump admin’s attempts to legally sanction law-firms that sued his first admin and represent detained aliens; both of those things are also protected by the first amendment.