 CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad in Fox News interview |
A federal grand jury is investigating the Council on American-Islamic Relations for possible violation of laws that ban financial dealings with terrorist groups or countries under U.S. sanctions, according to a filing in the Muslim organization’s lawsuit against a co-author of the expose “Muslim Mafia” and his son.
A letter attached to the filing, signed by Lynn Haaland, assistant U.S. attorney for the National Security Section in Washington, referenced CAIR’s possible violations of 50 U.S.C. sections 1701-1706, which are part of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Under the 1977 act, which empowers presidents to deal with extraordinary threats during peacetime, President George W. Bush signed an executive order 12 days after the 9/11 attacks that blocked property and barred transactions with anyone who commits, threatens to commit or supports terrorism.
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The Jan. 13 letter from the office of U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips is an exhibit in the latest filing by attorneys for former Air Force special agent P. David Gaubatz and his son, Chris, who posed as a Muslim intern in an undercover sting of CAIR that obtained 12,000 pages of internal documents that allegedly confirm the Muslim group’s ties to terrorism.
As WND reported, the FBI served the grand jury subpoena at the law offices of Cozen O’Connor in the nation’s capital Nov. 24.
Last April, the FBI sent letters to Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., explaining the bureau’s decision to suspend all formal contacts with CAIR. Evidence presented at the trial of the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, the FBI noted, demonstrated a relationship between CAIR, its founders and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The letter to the Gaubatzes’ attorneys from the U.S. attorney’s office, which is barred from public comment on grand jury proceedings, indicates CAIR attorney Daniel Marino initially opposed the subpoena but had informed the federal office “he no longer objects.”
The letter advised the Gaubatz defense team it would be contacted by a “designated filter team attorney” to arrange for transfer of the documents. A filter team is assigned to comb through material to determine which items should be “privileged.”
Gaubatz’ book “Muslim Mafia”, co-authored with Paul Sperry, asserts CAIR is acting as a front for a conspiracy of the Muslim Brotherhood – the parent of al-Qaida and Hamas – to infiltrate the U.S. and help pave the way for Saudi-style Islamic law to rule the nation.
Gaubatz told WND the documents turned over to the FBI show, among other things, CAIR’s support for Islamic terrorist groups, its funding from foreign Muslim sources; its involvement with the Saudi government, the Saudis’ influence on elected U.S. officials, the Muslim Brotherhood’s intimidation of American media and how CAIR plotted the “flying imams” case to have a chilling effect on law enforcement and security at the nation’s airports.
Gaubatz said there are documents that reveal prominent Muslims under investigation by the FBI went to CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad and others for consultation. The documents show CAIR was aware that the Muslim leaders lied to the FBI about trips to Saudi Arabia.
Among the documents is a letter to Awad from a Muslim leader who told CAIR he had the right under Islam to commit violence against federal authorities. CAIR did not disclose the threat to the FBI, Gaubatz said.
The grand jury subpoena came after a federal judge in Washington issued a restraining order, Nov. 3, requiring that the documents be returned to CAIR’s lawyers along with audio and video recordings made by Chris Gaubatz. Lawyers for the Gaubatzes say they complied with both orders by returning the original documents to CAIR and sending copies to federal authorities.
The order by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was issued in CAIR’s lawsuit against the Gaubatzes in which the group claims Chris Gaubatz removed its papers and made recordings of employees “without any consent or authorization and in violation of his contractual fiduciary and other legal obligations.” Gaubatz lawyer Daniel Horowitz filed a motion in December in response, arguing CAIR is unable to demonstrate it suffered harm and, furthermore, has no claim because the group does not legally exist. Horowitz explains that just two weeks after CAIR was named by the Justice Department in May 2007 as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Texas case, the organization changed its name to the Council on American-Islamic Relations Action Network.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The CAIR legal attack on WND’s author is far from over. WND needs your help in supporting the defense of “Muslim Mafia” co-author P. David Gaubatz, as well as his investigator son Chris, against CAIR’s lawsuit. Already, the book’s revelations have led to formal congressional demands for three different federal investigations of CAIR. In the meantime, however, someone has to defend these two courageous investigators who have, at great personal risk, revealed so much about this dangerous group. Although WND has procured the best First Amendment attorneys in the country for their defense, we can’t do it without your help. Please donate to WND’s Legal Defense Fund now. Thank you.
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