Senator Tom Cotton (R.
, Ark.) is urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to launch a formal investigation into the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) over potential violations of its tax-exempt status.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, Cotton cited the organization's alleged "ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood."
CAIR, a leading anti-Israel advocacy group in the United States, has been persistently accused of having its funding sources intertwined with Hamas. The organization was implicated as a co-conspirator in a 2009 federal court case concerning terrorism financing.
Since then, it has emerged as a prominent player in the pro-Hamas campus movement that sparked following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas.
As the chair of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence, Cotton believes that CAIRs "deep ties to terrorist organizations" necessitate an immediate IRS investigation. He is calling for a thorough examination of the group's compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, which regulates nonprofits.
According to the letter addressed to IRS commissioner Billy Long, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon, Cotton is requesting a comprehensive review of CAIRs "financial records, affiliations, and activities."
Although CAIRs funding mechanisms have been subject to congressional scrutiny before, this is the first time since October 7 that a leading GOP senator has formally asked the IRS to exercise investigative oversight. The financial records of CAIR remain unclear, but the organization asserts that it is primarily funded through individual donations.
In his letter, Cotton emphasized that "the IRS has broad authority to examine whether an entitys operations align with its exempt purpose," adding that "tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism."
The 2009 government investigation reportedly "revealed that CAIRs founders participated in a meeting of Hamas supporters in Philadelphia, where they discussed strategies to advance the Islamist agenda in America while concealing their true affiliations." A founder of CAIR's Texas chapter was later sentenced to 65 years in prison as a result of the case.
In November 2023, just a month after Hamass brutal terror spree, CAIR executive director Nihad Awad expressed his happiness at seeing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip "breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land."
Awad stated, "I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land and walk free into their lands that they were not allowed to walk in," adding that "the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves. And yes, Israel as an occupying power does not have that right to self-defense."
Awad's comments drew criticism from the former Biden administration, leading to a severance of ties with CAIR, which had been selected to serve on an executive body aimed at combating anti-Semitism.
Awad also wrote a Facebook eulogy in April 2024 for Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, who the United States had designated "as a recruiter and fundraiser for al-Qaeda."
Zahra Billoo, CAIRs San Francisco area executive director and anti-Israel activist, faced widespread condemnation in 2021 when she stated that "Zionists" are "your enemies" and urged pro-Palestinian activists to "pay attention" to "Zionist synagogues."
In his letter, Cotton underscored that U.S. nonprofit groups must "operate exclusively for charitable, educational, or religious purposes, and are prohibited from providing material support to terrorism." The implications of this investigation could be far-reaching, potentially affecting the operations of other similar organizations.
Login