New plan to fight jihad, defend 1st Amendment

WASHINGTON – With a federal judge approving for trial a lawsuit by the Council on American-Islamic Relations aimed at discrediting – or even seizing – a book exposing the group's connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and terrorism, the publisher of "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America." is taking an action designed to ensure the First Amendment is not compromised.

He's making the title available at low cost electronically and, in the unlikely event Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly grants CAIR's veiled motion to seize all hard copies in the marketplace, encourages buyers to disregard copyright infringement notices on the e-book and spread it virally worldwide.

"This is a historic publishing decision," said Joseph Farah, founder of WND Books. "I don't think any publisher has ever authorized purchasers – even conditionally – to ignore copyright notices on an e-book to ensure the free flow of information in the public interest is not blocked by an arbitrary and unconstitutional judicial decision. I don't expect Judge Kollar-Kotelly to take such an ill-advised action, but I'm not taking any chances."

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CAIR's lawsuit names "Muslim Mafia" co-author P. David Gaubatz and his son Chris Gaubatz, who carried out a six-month undercover investigation to document the Islamic group's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the originator of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and Hamas.

CAIR has alleged that Chris Gaubatz, who served as an intern for the Muslim group, stole 12,000 pages of internal documents that later formed the basis of the WND Books expose of CAIR. Gaubatz argues he posed as a Muslim in the six-month undercover effort to expose CAIR's threat to U.S. security. CAIR was named by the U.S. Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terrorist-financing scheme. In that case, FBI agents presented evidence that CAIR was established as a front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Gaubatz says he acquired the documents when, as an intern, he accepted a request by CAIR staffers to shred old material in the basement of the organization's D.C. headquarters. Gaubatz was the only intern to volunteer for the job, and he set aside select documents which he later carried out in boxes in front of CAIR employees.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly has granted CAIR's request to file two amended complaints against the Gaubatzes. CAIR alleges it suffered damage after Chris Gaubatz obtained the documents under false pretenses and made recordings of officials and employees without consent.

In the lawsuit, however, CAIR, a self-described Muslim civil-rights group, does not defend itself against the book's claims, and the FBI has seized the CAIR material from the Washington law office of one of the Gaubtazes' attorneys. A previous filing in the case revealed a federal grand jury is investigating CAIR for possible violation of laws that ban financial dealings with terrorist groups or countries under U.S. sanctions.

One of the Gaubatz's lawyers, renowned First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus, said he thinks the father and son have a valid First Amendment argument and that CAIR didn't suffer any financial damage. Another Gaubatz lawyer, Daniel Horowitz, has argued that CAIR's claim is not valid because the documents support other evidence of their support of terrorism, and the only damage would be to their reputation.

CAIR can't sue anyone who claims it supports terrorism unless the claim is not true, Horowitz explained, noting that, normally, if a party believes a book is deliberately false, it will sue for defamation.

As WND reported, CAIR's complaint seeks to expunge all copies of "Muslim Mafia" in an attempt, Horowitz contends, to eliminate evidence that could lead to criminal prosecution.

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. 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.