Muslim Mafia

by Sperry, Paul

  4 “CAIR Executive Staff Meeting,” tasks memo, 15 May 2007, 1. CAIR executive Ibrahim Hooper was the point of contact for the lawyer and family of Royer, his longtime protégé.

  5 Videotaped conversation between Chris Gaubatz (posing as David Marshall) and Quasem, 5 August 2008 (Part 3 of video, starting at 54:42).

  6 CAIR National visitors register, 22 April 2004. Entry reads as follows: “Name: Omar Abu Ali. Company: SAUDI EMBASSY. To See: Br. Nihad. Time Arrive: 12:00.” See Appendix.

  7 Author (Sperry) interview by email, 11 February 2009.

  8 Author (Sperry) interview by phone, 1 May 2008.

  9 Steve Emerson, “Paper of CAIR,” National Review Online, 8 February 2008.

  10 Farah Stockman, “Iraqi Sunnis plan lobbying operation in Washington,” Boston Globe, 18 March 2007. Also, “Another Ex-CAIR Official in Legal Trouble,” IPT News, 27 March 2008.

  11 Federal Election Commission records, 2000.

  12 “List of Unindicted Co-conspirators and/or Joint Venturers,” Attachment A, U.S. vs. Holy Land Foundation, et. al., 6. See Appendix.

  13 FEC records, 2002.

  14 Affidavit in Support of Application for Search Warrant, “In the Matter of Searches Involving 555 Grove Street, Herndon, Virginia, and Related Locations,” U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, unsealed October 2003, 39.

  15 “List of Unindicted Co-conspirators,” 6.

  16 FEC records, 2002.

  17 “List of Unindicted Co-conspirators,” 5.

  18 Government Exhibit 004-0001, U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation, et al., 4. See Appendix.

  19 Author (Paul Sperry) interview in person, 12 February 2009. The special agent noted that politics had previously throttled the investigation of Awad thanks to an official photo he managed to have taken with President Bush at the National Cathedral after 9/11.

  20 “List of Unindicted Co-conspirators,” 6.

  21 Government Exhibit, Ashqar Wiretap-1, 3:04-CR-240-G, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 2, 6 (recorded 13 September 1993). Also, Government Exhibit, 016-0047, 3:04-CR-240-G, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 11.

  22 Joel Mowbray, “Boxer’s stand; Why she repudiated a Muslim group,” the Washington Times, 11 January 2007, A21. Addressing a youth session at the 1999 IAP annual convention in Chicago, Ahmad also said, “Fighting for freedom, fighting for Islam, that is not suicide. They kill themselves for Islam,” according to a transcript provided by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

  23 Author (Sperry) interview by phone, 6 March 2009. Ahmad’s address was 215 Monroe St., Santa Clara, Calif. 95050, Apt. 11. The Blind Sheik reception took place in 1990. Hyslop recalls Ahmad taking the New York Times. He also recalls Ahmad’s then-infant son, Osama, wearing a green T-shirt with the word “Intifada” emblazoned across the front. Ahmad left the apartment with no forwarding address. Public records show he has maintained four P.O. boxes in Santa Clara since then.

  24 Paul Sperry, Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington, (Nashville, Tenn.: Nelson Current, 2005), xi.

  25 Government Exhibit, 016-0069, 3:04-CR-240-G, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 13.

  26 “List of Unindicted Co-conspirators,” 6.

  27 Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington, 249.

  28 Letter from Global Relief Foundation officer Khaled Diab to CAIR Research Director Mohamed Nimer, 20 July 2000, 1. The two discussed an $18,000 donation.

  29 “Grand Deception,” trailer to documentary film, Steve Emerson, Investigative Project on Terrorism, Summer 2009.

  30 Siraj Wahhaj, “Stand Up for Justice,” videotaped sermon, Masjid At-Taqwa, Brooklyn, N.Y., 8 May 1992.

  31 Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington, xi.

  32 Al-Hajj Idris A. Muhammad, What Should You Do If You Are Arrested or Framed by the Racist, Fascist, Criminal Police? Or the Racist, Fascist, Criminal FBI? (New York: El-Amin Publishers, 2002, Third Edition), 65, 66.

  33 “CAIR Fund Raising Plan 2006,” 1.

  34 “Ellison at CAIR: ‘Obama Not Our Salvation. God Is,’” The Muslim Link, 28 November 2008, 2.

  35 “Depreciation and Amortization Report,” IRS Form 990, CAIR, 2004, 13.

  36 Transcript of Hooper interview with Fox New’s Rita Cosby, 29 October 2001.

  37 “Raid on Texas Business is ‘Anti-Muslim Witch Hunt’ Say Muslim Leaders,” PR Newswire, 6 September 2001.

  CHAPTER THREE: FRONTING FOR HAMAS

  1 Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon D. Kromberg, U.S. Justice Department, “Brief for the United States,” USA v. Sabri Benkahla, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, December 2007, 58. CAIR defended Benkahla, convicted of a obstructing a terrorism probe, and even filed a friend-of-the-court brief in his appeal. But that only backfired when prosecutors slapped CAIR down as a terror-supporting Brotherhood front.

  2 Jason Trahan, “FBI: CAIR is a front group, and Holy Land Foundation tapped Hamas clerics for fundraisers,” Dallas Morning News, 7 October 2008. Agent Burns testified Oct. 7, 2008, during her redirect examination in federal court in Dallas.

  3 Government Exhibit 003-0065, 3:04-CR-240-G, U.S. v HLF, et al., 12, 13. Hand-written letter (in Arabic) from Hamas charitable front Islamic Relief Committee faxed to U.S. Muslim Brotherhood underboss Ismail Elbarasse, 12 August 1992.

  4 Government Exhibit 003-0078, 3:04-CR-240-G, U.S. v. HLF, et al., 6, 7. This smoking-gun document, which can be viewed in the Appendix, was found during FBI search of Elbarasse’s home in the D.C. suburbs.

  5 CAIR’s “advocacy model -- work closely with media and provide direct services to local Muslim communities -- was developed when Nihad Awad and Ibrahim Hooper worked as community activists” in the early ‘90s, CAIR acknowledges on page one of a recent 10-page statement posted on its website under the heading, “Top Internet Disinformation About CAIR.”

  6 Steven Emerson, “One Muslim Advocacy Group’s Not-So-Secret Terrorist Ties,” The New Republic Online, 28 March 2007.

  7 In its brief filed in the summer of 2007 with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, CAIR accused the government of “demonization of all things Muslim.” The co-conspirator designation, the brief argues, is “particularly insidious and ironic as CAIR is an organization dedicated to fostering acceptance of Muslims in American society and protecting the civil liberties of all Muslim Americans.”

  8 “Government’s Memorandum in Opposition to Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Instanter and Amicus Brief in Support of the Unindicted Co-Conspirators’ First and Fifth Amendment Rights,” USA v. Holy Land Foundation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, 3:04cr240, 4 September 2007.

  9 U.S. v. Sabri Benkahla, 58.

  10 “CAIR is not a ‘front group for Hamas’ (or) ‘part of a wider conspiracy overseen by the Muslim Brotherhood,’ “the group insists (“Top Internet Disinformation About CAIR,” 1).

  11 Canceled check No. 1881, paid to the order of CAIR by Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, amount of $5,000, Bank One Texas, 5 October 1994.

  12 “There is probable cause to believe that those contributors to HLF who knew the leaders of Hamas or HLF, contributed their money to support suicide bombings and terrorism conducted by Hamas,” said federal agent David Kane in 2002 affidavit for search warrant, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, unsealed October 2003, 34.

  13 D-20 Corporation Franchise Tax Return, District of Columbia, CAIR-DC, 1995, 4 (obtained by author Sperry); Supplemental Schedule, CAIR-DC, Balance Sheet as of 30 April 1996, 2 (Sperry). See Appendix.

  14 “Senior leader of Hamas and Texas computer company indicted for conspiracy to violate U.S. ban on financial dealings with terrorists,” press release, Justice Department, 18 December 2002, 1.

  15 Indictment, U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation, et. al., U.S. Disctrict Court for the Northern District of Texas, 26 July 2004, 22. The $40,000 wire transfer was
issued on Feb. 15, 1996.

  16 Government Exhibit 003-0065, 12, 13.

  17 D-20 Corporation Franchise Tax Return, 4.

  CHAPTER FOUR: TERROR SUPPORT GROUP

  1 “Proposed Muslim Platform for 2004,” 8 March 2004, 2. The two-page document, marked “draft,” was found inside one of CAIR chief Nihad Awad’s files labeled “AMT,” which stands for the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections. The file included notes from an “AMT Teleconference” held the same month the platform memo was drafted. See Appendix.

  2 Al-Amin faced the death penalty but was sentenced to life without parole. A close ally of CAIR adviser and fundraiser Siraj Wahhaj believes Al-Amin was “framed and railroaded” by a “racist” judge. “The incompetent racist, fascist, Zionist Jew lowlife pervert, so-called judge (Stephanie B.) Manis is an open enemy to the Muslim community,” snarls Al-Ha? Idris A. Muhammad in a publication sold at a bookstore associated with Wahhaj’s mosque in Brooklyn. He also calls Al-Amin’s victims “bootlicking” and “corrupt” cops.

  3 Letter from Al-Amin to Awad, 25 April 2007, 1. (“Re: Justice Fund Contribution.”) See Appendix. It’s worth noting that the lawyer described CAIR’s gift as an “additional” contribution, suggesting this was not the first time CAIR has financially supported the cop killer.

  4 Interoffice email from Iftikhar to Awad and Hooper, 3 January 2007, 1.

  5 Cindy George, “Pakistani found guilty of gun charge,” Houston Chronicle, 31 January 2007, B1. Ali Khalili was the CAIR cheerleader in the Taliban wannabe’s corner.

  6 CAIR National visitors register.

  7 “Case Summary,” Omar Abu Ali, et al. v. John Ashcroft, et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 16 December 2004.

  8 Ibid.

  9 “CAIR backs film praising convicted terror supporter,” WorldNetDaily, 4 December 2007.

  10 “American Brotherhood: Sami’s Our Man,” IPT News, 5 September 2008.

  11 Affidavit in Support of Application for Search Warrant, 37-39.

  12 “Semiannual Report,” CAIR Governmental Affairs Department, Not for Distribution – for Board Members Only, 1, 2.

  13 Affidavit in Support of Application for Search Warrant, 37-39.

  14 “Closing of CAIR MD VA Checklist,” 1. The internal spreadsheet document lists under checklist item No. D-3: “Give notice to Sterling Management, only if national decide [sic] not to continue in this office. We might have to pay an extra month rent.”

  15 “CAIR MD-VA Opens New Office in Virginia,” CAIR interoffice memo, December 2004, 1. “Local Community Leader Yaqub Mirza, PhD (gave some encouraging words of support).”

  16 Laurie Goodstein, “U.S. Muslim Clerics Seek a Modern Middle Ground,” New York Times, 18 June 2006. Shakir’s treasonous statement is buried in the last paragraph of long story designed to rehabilitate his image to appear moderate.

  17 Zaytuna Speech Request Form, 11 September 2003, 1.

  18 “U.S. Muslim Clerics Seek a Modern Middle Ground.”

  19 Nihad Awad, “Report from CAIR National,” CAIR National Board Meeting, 29 October 2006, 2.

  20 “American Muslims: A Journalist’s Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims,” CAIR, 21.

  21 “Obama’s Gitmo Delegation,” editorial, Investor’s Business Daily, 5 June 2008.

  22 Author (Sperry) interview via teleconference; senior Gitmo security official, U.S. military intelligence analyst; 28 March 2009.

  23 “Radical Islamic/Anti-Western Threat Within Government Intelligence Bodies,” JTF-Guantanamo, U.S. Southern Command, May 2009, 2. (High-level briefing obtained by author Sperry.)

  24 Ibid, 3.

  25 Ibid, 2.

  26 Ibid, 5.

  27 Jake Tapper, “Islam’s flawed spokesman,” Salon.com, 26 September 2001.

  28 Paul Vitello, “The War on Terror: Attack consensus is elusive,” Newsday (New York), 14 October 2001, A08. Khankan also claimed that “Atta is living in the United Arab Emirates. His passport was stolen…Yet the FBI insists he was one of the hijackers.” On Oct. 7, 2001, speaking at CAIR’s 7th Annual Fundraising Dinner in Vienna, Virginia, Khankan asked: “Who is impersonating these Muslim names? Who benefits?” He implied the U.S. was trying to “cover up” the real identity of the hijackers. Also, on Oct. 5, 2001, CAIR’s New York office encouraged Muslims to write letters to the New York Times questioning the identity of the 9/11 hijackers, because Muslims “could NOT be the culprits,” it insisted in one letter it posted on the CAIR website (emphasis in original). “Who could ‘benefit’ from” the attacks? it pondered, echoing Arab conspiracy theories that Mossad orchestrated the attacks with the CIA and FBI to spark a war on Islam.

  29 Letter from Global Relief Foundation officer Khaled Diab to CAIR Research Director Mohamed Nimer.

  30 Sperry, Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington, 258.

  31 “Proposed Muslim Platform for 2004,” 1, 2. This is a rough draft of talking points found in Awad’s executive files, along with minutes of conference calls regarding the AMT Presidential Outreach Committee, which took place March 31, 2004, and April 25, 2004. The date 1948 cited in talking point No. 3 refers to the year the Israeli state was created.

  32 Joe Kaufman, “CAIR Assassination Plot?” FrontPageMagazine, 7 August 2008.

  33 Anwar Aulaqi, “44 Ways of Supporting Jihad,” January 2009.

  34 Sperry, Infiltration, 119-132. Anwar Aulaqi, aka Al-Awlaki, aka Abu Atiq, was born in Las Cruces, N.M., in 1971 to Yemeni parents. He grew up in Yemen and returned in 1991 to study engineering at Colorado State University. On October 10, 2002, Aulaqi was detained at JFK International Airport after arriving on Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 35. He gave an address of 3159 Row Street, Falls Church, Virginia -- the Dar al-Hijrah mosque, which has been the subject of several terrorism investigations over the past 16 years. (The mosque uses the Falls Church Church of Christ parking lot across the highway for extra parking during Friday prayer and Muslim holidays. The traffic is so bad on Fridays that the Church of Christ minister has to take off work to avoid it.) At JFK, Aulaqi was referred to secondary inspection as an “anti-terrorist passenger.” Phone records suggest Aulaqi also spoke by phone several times to the hijackers, along with a Saudi intelligence agent who helped them. Aulaqi has denied knowing the hijackers.

  35 Author (Sperry) interview by phone, 3 May 2005.

  36 Ibid. Authorities also considered bringing a prostitution case against Aulaqi while he was in Virginia under the Mann Act, a federal statute. They had a photo of him at an ATM with a hooker he allegedly picked up in Washington, D.C. Aulaqi previously had been arrested twice for soliciting prostitutes in San Diego. Apparently the young cleric had worked himself into such a lather preaching about the carnal delights of the Islamic Hereafter that he couldn’t wait to redeem his own earthbound “dark-eyed damsels with swelling breasts.”

  37 Charles E. Allen, undersecretary of Homeland Security for intelligence and analysis, keynote address, GEOINT conference, Nashville, Tennessee, 28 October 2008.

  38 Susan Schmidt, “Imam from Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaida,” Washington Post, 27 February 2008, A03.

  39 Paul Sperry, “Al-Qaida angle emerges in CAIR-tied terror case,” FrontPageMagazine, 22 June 2007.

  40 It’s also noteworthy that Aulaqi, like CAIR founder Awad, was chummy with the Blind Sheik and his entourage. More, Aulaqi has spoken at Islamic conferences with longtime CAIR director and fundraiser Siraj Wahhaj.

  41 Letter from CAIR’s national legislative director, Corey P. Saylor, to U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, co-founder of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism/Jihad Caucus, 2 February 2009, 1.

  42 “MAC: Talking Points,” memo, 2004, 1. Page 2 of the memo, put out jointly by the Muslim Affairs Council and CAIR, cites the Royer and Khan cases.