Muslim Mafia
Page 19
“The past election was a watershed for the Muslim community,” says Saleh, a black Muslim convert previously known as Benny “B.J.” Williams.
SOLICITING RESUMÉS FROM THE MUSLIM MAFIA
The forty-five-member Muslim staffers association—the only one in Congress centered on religion—is now headed by Pakistani-American Assad R. Akhter, the legislative director for Democratic Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey. Pascrell has taken heat for reserving hard-to-get meeting rooms for CAIR in the Capitol.
The Congressional Muslim Staffers Association also includes members of the U.S. Capitol Police Department, responsible for protecting Congress from terrorism and other threats.
“We have a good representation of Arabs, Afro-Americans, South Asians, Reverts, and Latinos,” Saleh says, adding that members “discuss Islam when the need arises.” During 2008’s Ramadan, the group served eight hundred DC Muslims at the annual congressional Iftar, which it co-hosts with CAIR. The dinner typically draws several members of Congress and dozens of congressional staffers.
Saleh, 34, has been busy conducting workshops for “Muslim professionals” to “capitalize” on the change in power and “ensure that Muslim Americans are prominent in the Obama administration.”
“Muslims would greatly benefit by participating in the new government,” he says.
To that end, he has gathered more than three hundred resumés for various positions on Capitol Hill—from chief of staff to committee counsel to press secretary. He also sent his “resumé book” to the Obama administration, where he hopes Muslim applicants will be considered for several thousand jobs in the new government.
Unbeknownst to many in Washington, Saleh has solicited resumés from Muslim Brotherhood front groups including ISNA and CAIR.16 Last year, in fact, Saleh conducted a workshop at CAIR’s offices on Muslim activism in government.17
The recruitment from the ranks of ISNA and CAIR is a major red flag, the senior congressional aide warns. He says the resumé book could present a security threat if not properly vetted. “If one person in there has ties to radicals,” he says, “then the whole booklet is tarnished.”18
The White House has confirmed it received the resumé book and has already hired a woman endorsed by Saleh and his group as an advisor on Islamic affairs. Egyptian-born Dalia Mogahed—the first veiled Muslim woman to be appointed to a position in the White House—will brief President Obama on what Muslims want from the U.S. She joins two full-time Muslim hires in the White House.
“He’s done a lot” already for the Muslim community, Ellison says of Obama, “and I believe he will do more.”
Saleh also is confident Obama—who wants to convene a “Muslim summit” to show his respect for their religion—will consider more Muslims for posts in the administration. “I trust that Americans will accept the principled leadership of Muslims who aspire to establish the Beloved Community, insha’Allah,” Saleh says without elaborating on what he means by establishing “the Beloved Community.”19
But Saleh, whose policy portfolio under Meeks includes homeland security, is a fan of the pan-Islamist, pro-jihadist imam Zaid Shakir, according to Saleh’s posts on Twitter.com, where he tweets under the name “blackjihad.” Shakir has declared the 82nd Airborne and other U.S. military fair game in jihad, and has urged followers to transform the U.S. into “a Muslim country” ruled by Islamic law.
‘SEEDS FOR 9/11 PLANTED IN 1948’
Saleh also advises Meeks on foreign policy, and has taken “fact-finding” trips to the Middle East, according to congressional travel records.
CAIR boasts internally that it has “many potential allies in Congress,” and that its foreign- and domestic-policy agendas dovetail with theirs. Topping their international agenda:
Cutting aid to Israel.
Creating a Palestinian state.
Pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Closing the military’s terrorist prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
And bringing even Gitmo’s most dangerous detainees, such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, to America (preferably Muslim-dominated Alexandria, Virginia, a move touted by CAIR supporter Representative Jim Moran, who represents the DC suburb), whereupon they can ditch their leg irons and manacles and stand trial in open court.
CAIR hopes more politicians will make a connection between 9/11 and the Israeli “occupation” of Palestinians.
“The seeds for 9/11 were planted in 1948,” according to a draft of a “Proposed Muslim Platform” found at CAIR headquarters. “A resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs to be based on recognizing and correcting the harm that was done to the Palestinians since 1948.”20
The memo goes on to suggest that adopting a pro-Muslim foreign policy will buy protection for America.
“Good foreign policy means less worry about homeland security,” it continues, “and better environment for a strong economy. Does anyone know what is the financial impact of 9/11 on the country?”
The domestic policy agenda of CAIR and its Democrat boosters is no less disturbing. Among other things, it includes:
Repealing the USA Patriot Act;
Weakening the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act;
Outlawing anti-terrorist profiling by police;
Abolishing quotas and post-9/11 restrictions on immigration from high-risk Muslim countries;
Expediting security background checks on Arab and Muslim applicants for citizenship; and
Purging the FBI terrorist watchlist, as well as airline no-fly lists.
CAIR notes in its internal papers that the power to influence such national policy “requires sophisticated lobby” and “access to positions of power.” It also requires “engaging in a process where our people are involved (in) money contributions, votes (and) volunteering in campaigns.”
VIOLATING IRS RULES AGAINST LOBBYING?
While the poli-sci merits of that formula may be sound, there’s just one problem: CAIR is not a registered lobbyist and cannot engage in such activities. In fact, as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, it is severely restricted from lobbying and expressly prohibited from political campaigning.
The IRS puts strict limits on the amount of time or money such organizations can spend on both direct lobbying—such as meeting face-to-face with a legislator—and grassroots lobbying—such as media campaigns to influence the public on an issue.
By law, CAIR must notify the IRS of any intent to lobby by filing a special form. A 501(c)(3) organization “will lose its tax-exempt status and its qualification to receive deductible charitable contributions if a substantial part of its activities are carried on to influence legislation,” the IRS states in Form 5768.
CAIR is flirting with, if not crossing, that line. Internal documentation generated by the group suggests a substantial part of its operations involve lobbying activities.
Take its efforts to repeal the Patriot Act. CAIR’s traffic on the Hill on that issue has rivaled the activity of a K Street lobbying firm. In 2005 alone, CAIR officials made a whopping seventy-two separate trips to Congress to protest the anti-terror law, according to internal records.21 Considering Congress met fewer than 150 days that year, this is an extraordinary lobbying pace indeed.
CAIR also spends $25,000 a year to organize a national “lobby day on the Hill” during which its members across the country come to Washington to meet with their representatives and senators to talk about a single issue—using the same talking points furnished by CAIR.
CAIR also created databases to streamline its lobbying efforts, including one “to track our relationships with congressional offices,” and another to automatically alert Hill staffers about policy issues important to CAIR, according to internal CAIR documents. The Hill e-list, or electronic mailing list, is known internally as “Policy-net.”22
Again, CAIR is not a registered lobbyist. Yet it calls its governmental affairs department a “lobbying office.”
“The Go
vernmental Affairs Department better understands the workings and personalities of Capitol Hill,” reported Jason C. Erb, Saylor’s predecessor, in a post-9/11 memo marked “Not for Distribution—For Board Members Only.” “There is much to be learned and many wrinkles to be ironed out before we are a truly efficient and effective lobbying office.”23
BUSSING MUSLIMS TO THE POLLS
According to IRS statutes, additionally, CAIR cannot in any way support or oppose anyone running for public office. Nor can it engage in partisan political activities. That means absolutely no campaigning.
And no political fundraising may occur at an event hosted by a 501(c)(3) organization. For that matter, such tax-exempt groups cannot endorse or even voice support for political candidates, according to IRS rules.
Yet CAIR has held political fundraisers benefiting Ellison and other Democrats. It has also used its resources to turn Muslim voters out for Ellison and other Democrat candidates in tight races.
CAIR shared its “phone sheets of Muslim voters from the research department’s database of Muslim voters to help in get[ting] out the vote effort,” Awad reported to CAIR’s board just days before the 2006 midterm congressional elections. “The following requests have been fulfilled:
The 5th district of Minnesota, where Keith Ellison is running for Congress.
The state of Connecticut.
Pennsylvania’s 17th and 19th congressional districts.
San Francisco Bay area, California.”24
During the 2004 election, CAIR bussed Muslim voters from mosques to polls to try to swing elections to Democrats in key Florida counties.
One of CAIR’s strategic goals for 2010 is to create a database of registered Muslim voters segmented by congressional district to “quickly” mobilize them and “target” candidates in key races. It also plans to register thirty thousand new Muslim voters by next year’s congressional elections.
Meanwhile, it’s coaching all Muslims—including noncitizen immigrants who cannot vote—to phone elected officials in Washington to pressure them to adopt CAIR’s agenda. Here illegally? No problem. “They cannot ask your citizenship status,” CAIR advises.25
To make such contacts easier, CAIR has published and mailed its members more than forty-five hundred copies of its Congressional Guide, complete with photos and bios of lawmakers, along with their contact information.
ISNA’S NON-ENDORSEMENT ENDORSEMENT
Also according to IRS law, CAIR cannot invite Democrats to speak at its forums and fundraising dinners without also extending formal invitations to Republicans.26 With the exception of GOP gadfly Ron Paul, an outspoken anti-war critic, however, CAIR generally has not reached out to Republicans. Rather, it’s mostly vilified them.
In fact, CAIR is extremely monopartisan, acting almost as an auxiliary of the Democratic National Committee. “We continued to communicate with the Democratic National Committee about ways to get Muslims involved in the political system through participation in election campaigns and other party activities, like training,” Erb said in his five-page report, which makes no mention of outreach to Republicans.
CAIR Chairman Larry Shaw insists “nothing we do is illegal.” Still, absent an IRS audit, questions loom large—including reports that CAIR uses its DC townhomes and other offsite investment properties to host fundraisers for political candidates.
CAIR’s sister organization ISNA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization as well. And like CAIR, it knows it can’t endorse political candidates.
But at last year’s ISNA convention, the group violated at least the spirit of the law when one of its moderators—a member of ISNA’s shura council—cleverly endorsed Obama without technically endorsing him.
“Before we get to the next question, I think I have a responsibility to remind everybody that ISNA, as a tax-exempt organization, does not support any particular political candidate for office,” said ISNA moderator Asad M. Ba-Yunus. “That being said, you all know who we really support.”
With that wink and nod, the ballroom erupted into laughter and applause. Congressmen Ellison and Carson, also in attendance, were seen smiling and clapping approvingly.
CONGRESSIONAL CO-CONSPIRATORS
CAIR’s boosters on the Hill, where it’s headquartered just three blocks from the Capitol, are not limited to Muslims. In fact, most of them are non-Muslims—and almost all of them Democrats.
And they have known for some time that several people in positions of power within the group have been directly connected to terrorism and have either been prosecuted or thrown out of the country. They also know by now from court evidence that CAIR’s founders are part of a secret Hamas support network in the U.S. and are acting as its lobbying arm.
Yet these forty-strong lawmakers, who include members of both the House and Senate, have gone right on singing CAIR’s praises and carrying its water—which means that they’re carrying out, wittingly or not, the agenda of the Muslim mafia. That agenda includes apologizing for Palestinian terrorism, censoring critics of militant Islam, dismantling U.S. border security, and denying the FBI domestic terror-fighting tools, among other things.
These cheerleaders, who include a couple of Republicans, make up a de facto caucus for the dangerous Muslim Brotherhood (see box).
* * *
CAIR’S APPEASERS27
The list of compromised politicians who still support CAIR in spite of its proven ties to terrorism is long:
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-IL)
Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL)
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-CA)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
Rep. Albert L. Wynn (D-MD)
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA)
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA)
Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA)
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA)
Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-MD)
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA)
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI)
Rep. James P. Moran (D-VA)
Rep. Nick J. Rahall, II (D-WV)
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Rep. Andre Carson, (D-IN)
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH)
* * *
Perhaps some members of Congress had been fooled by CAIR’s deception. But now they have no excuse. Now Democratic senator Barbara Mikulski, who saluted CAIR’s “important work,” and Democratic senator Paul Sarbanes, who applauded “CAIR’s mission,” know better.
Now Democratic representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who serves as assistant to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, may think twice before meeting with CAIR officials and promising support for their agenda—including, according to CAIR’s internal notes from their meetings, laws to broaden hate crimes prosecution, accommodate Islamic holidays, and allow Islamic curriculum in public schools. (Unfortunately, Van Hollen works closely with Muslim activist Arshi Siddiqui—chief policy advisor to Pelosi—and Siddiqui remains high on CAIR’s contact list. So Van Hollen is likely to continue his outreach.)
The criminal evidence should also disabuse Democratic R
epresentative John Conyers of Michigan, who’s trumpeted CAIR’s “long and distinguished history,” along with Democratic representative John Dingell—another top recipient of donations from Michigan’s Arab and Muslim community—who said “my office door is always open” to CAIR. He now has an obligation to slam it shut whenever CAIR officials darken his doorway.
‘YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN THE CONGRESS’
No red-blooded American lawmaker wants to do anything that would facilitate the support of terrorists—not even liberal Democratic presidential hopeful Representative Dennis Kucinich, who’s a major recipient of Arab-Muslim cash and whose staff counsel is a Palestinian-rights activist. Perhaps in the future he’ll pause before gushing that “CAIR has much to be proud of,” or pledging that “you have a friend in the United States Congress.”
That includes even Representative Jim McDermott of Washington, who thusly expressed his wholehearted support for CAIR at a CAIR-Seattle banquet:
I always enjoy being with people like CAIR because you inspire me really to keep fighting…and I think that’s why this kind of an organization is so important for people to understand that you have a right to say whatever you believe. And I think you ought to exercise that. That’s being a real American.28
With overwhelming evidence that CAIR actually speaks against America and for the enemy, maybe McDermott will now think twice before accepting another invitation to speak at a CAIR event.
Then there’s Democratic Representative Jackson-Lee of Texas, who last year presented a Certificate of Congressional Recognition to CAIR at its Houston banquet, reading:
You are soundly recognized by the 18th Congressional District for dedication and commitment of the United States that is truly worthy of respect, admiration, and accommodation of the U.S. Congress.29