The New York Post
reported the appalling news on Friday: “According to the Intelligent
Advocacy Network (IAN), a California-based, non-partisan advocacy group,
the money was given to the chapter to help re-settle impoverished
immigrants in California between 2022 and 2024.”
The “chapter” that the Post mentions is CAIR’s Los Angeles chapter,
which appears to have gotten hold of the money in some irregular way:
“In what appears to be a sleight of hand, the money – $7,217,968.44 —
was sent to CAIR-Greater Los Angeles and not to CAIR-CA, which was the
only group eligible to receive it, according to the complaint” that IAN
has sent to the Justice Department.
The Post explains that “the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Muslim
organization, which is not a registered non-profit and not eligible to
handle charitable donations, received the entire pot of money according
to the complaint, viewed by The Post.” The complaint stated: “These sub
grants from CAIR-CA to CAIR chapters raise serious legal concerns about
whether CAIR simply shifted more money to itself.”
The fact that CAIR-Greater Los Angeles got the money instead of
CAIR-CA is actually only a small part of the problem. Why is CAIR
getting any money to resettle “impoverished immigrants in California” at
all? CAIR claims to
be “America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization.” It adds,
improbably, that it works to “protect civil rights, enhance
understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”
Do you see anything about resettling impoverished immigrants, or
anything about any work with migrants at all, in there? No. So the very
fact that CAIR received this money at all ought to spark an
investigation into money laundering, especially in light of the fact
that the money seems to have gone missing, and apparently wasn’t used
for those poor impoverished immigrants at all. It looks as if it went to
CAIR itself. The Post noted that “CAIR Los Angeles also appeared to
divide the federal grant and ‘sub-granted’ to other groups, including
CAIR’s chapters in San Diego and San Francisco.”
Are CAIR’s San Diego and San Francisco chapters made up of
impoverished immigrants? What do you think? But there is no
accountability: “Those CAIR chapters were not registered with the IRS
and once they receive cash, have no public responsibility to declare
where it is spent, the complaint charges.” IAN board member Julie
Marzouk stated: “There’s no transparency. This is part of a consistent
pattern from CAIR — to muddy the waters and limit the public’s ability
to track the money.”
IAN has called for an “immediate investigation” into CAIR, and such
an investigation can’t come a moment too soon. The Post noted gingerly
“evidence in past court proceedings has shown links between The Council
on American-Islamic Relations Foundation Inc. and both Hamas and the
Muslim Brotherhood.” Indeed: CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case — so named by the Justice Department. CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups.
