Stefanik urges Treasury to probe CAIR's alleged Hamas links ...Middle East

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Stefanik urges Treasury to probe CAIRs alleged Hamas links

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — U.S. Congressmember Elise Stefanik of New York wants the U.S. Department of the Treasury to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations for possible sanctions violations or financial links to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called a letter that Stefanik wrote to the Treasury an attempt to trigger a "McCarthy-era witch hunt."

U.S. House Republican Leadership Chair Stefanik and Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton wrote to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday. They asked him to "immediately investigate whether CAIR maintains financial links to Hamas that constitute violation of U.S. sanctions on Hamas."

    The congressional leaders argued that federal authorities identified the Islamic Association for Palestine—which CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad and co-founder Omar Ahmad previously led—as a propaganda arm for Hamas. Awad and Ahmad attended a 1993 meeting of the Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee in Philadelphia, they wrote, where participants discussed creating a new group to support Hamas while concealing its ties. CAIR formed in 1994.

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    The letter also said that in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator. It said that evidence in that case showed direct financial interactions between CAIR and the defunct charity, which was linked to Hamas.

    The lawmakers insisted that CAIR officials have made public statements justifying the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. For instance, Awad told attendees at an American Muslims for Palestine event that the attacks were about people "breaking the siege." Other CAIR leaders referred to the attacks using the term "decolonization."

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    The lawmakers also detailed direct support for anti-Israel campus protests, offering legal and organizational support to protest leaders. One such was New Yorker Mahmoud Khalil, who said October 7 was "unavoidable" and whom CAIR honored at its annual banquet. Furthermore, CAIR sued Columbia University, Khalil's school, to block records from congressional oversight.

    Stefanik perceives a pattern of historic ties to Hamas and took issue with public statements that she said align with Hamas narratives, raising serious questions about whether CAIR's is providing material support for terrorism. The letter noted that CAIR settled a lawsuit rather than disclosing its funding sources, which the lawmakers characterized as concerning.

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    CAIR countered with their own letter on Wednesday, calling Stefanik's suspicions baseless. Government Affairs Department Director Robert McCaw said that the demand for an investigation "has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bigotry." He wrote to Bessent about its mission, to "protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims."

    He noted that its 25 chapters and have spent decades advancing "free speech, religious freedom, and racial equality." CAIR also won a unanimous ruling from the Supreme Court in 2024 in a "historic lawsuit meant to protect all Americans from discrimination."

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    CAIR rebuked "long-debunked conspiracy theories." The group pointed out that the government's baseless smear of organizations listed as unindicted coconspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial was ruled unconstitutional by the Fifth Circuit in 2010.

    CAIR clarified their opposition to any group designated a foreign terrorist organization. "We unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa'ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA," the letter said. "CAIR is not and has never been an agent, affiliate, offshoot, subsidiary, supporter, partner, funder, representative, supporter, or pen pal of any foreign militant group."

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    McCaw's response acknowledged CAIR's opposition to "the Israeli government's violent, racist oppression of the Palestinian[s]." But the letter also highlighted consistent opposition to "violence against Israeli civilians, from such attacks on Oct. 7th, 2023, to the wave of suicide bombings that began in the 1990s."

    The letter also called Stefanik and Cotton "major recipients of funding from the Israel lobby group AIPAC." The civil rights group suggested that federal agencies should instead investigate whether the consistent Israel-First agitation from Stefanik "violated statutes governing bribery or the Foreign Agents Registration Act" in the form of campaign contributions or free travel.

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    Here's the letter from Stefanik and Cotton:

    CAIR Treasury Letter FinalDownload

    And the rebuttal from McCaw:

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