Chuck Ross of the Washington Free Beacon reports on a congressional request linked to terrorism concerns.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) are urging the Trump administration to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations’s links to Hamas, according to a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Republicans argue that CAIR’s “pattern of historic ties” to Hamas, combined with the rhetorical encouragement CAIR leaders have offered for Hamas, may constitute “material support for terrorism.” They cite CAIR’s designation as an unindicted co-conspirator in a 2009 federal court case against the Holy Land Foundation, a Hamas front group, and pro-Hamas rhetoric from CAIR leaders in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
CAIR executive director Nihad Awad, for example, said in November 2023 that he was “happy to see” Hamas attack the Jewish state, and applauded Hamas operatives for “breaking the siege” against Israel. Cotton and Stefanik noted that Awad is a former leader of the Islamic Association of Palestine, a propaganda arm of Hamas.
“We urge the department to immediately investigate whether CAIR maintains financial links to Hamas that constitute a violation of U.S. sanctions on Hamas and ensure that none of its assets are being used to advance the objectives of Hamas,” said Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, and Stefanik, a top House Republican who is considering a run for New York governor.
If the Treasury Department acts on it, the request could pull back the curtain on CAIR’s foreign funding sources, which the group has gone to extensive lengths to keep secret. CAIR does not disclose donors on its website or in its tax filings. The group quietly settled a lawsuit in March filed by a former board member that would have revealed the group’s foreign donors.
