Solsticewitch13's BOS: Muslim group loses bid to kill Patriot Act

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Muslim group loses bid to kill Patriot Act

CAIR's clout on Hill wanes as terror charges mount

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126660

Posted: March 01, 2010
10:35 pm Eastern

© 2010 WorldNetDaily

In another sign of its waning clout, a prominent Washington-based Muslim pressure group has lost a major battle to overturn a key post-9/11 antiterrorism security measure, despite a Democrat-controlled, Muslim-friendly Congress.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has lobbied tirelessly to repeal the USA Patriot Act, which was passed overwhelmingly after 9/11 to help law enforcement crack down on terrorists. CAIR hoped a new Democrat super-majority on Capitol Hill would doom the law, which makes it easier to conduct surveillance on terrorist suspects in the U.S.

But last week, the Senate quietly voted to extend three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that would have expired without reauthorization. Senate Democrats agreed to a clean reauthorization on a voice-vote.

A former federal prosecutor says CAIR's own ties to terrorism have reduced its effectiveness in lobbying against the Patriot Act, as Democrats try to disassociate themselves from the group, now under investigation by a federal grand jury.

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CAIR "is the leadership of the anti-Patriot movement," said Andy McCarthy, a former U.S. attorney who has put away major terrorists, including ones involved in the first World Trade Center attack and the U.S. embassy attacks in Africa.

But heading into the next election, with more homegrown terrorism cases cropping up, he said fewer Democrat lawmakers want to be seen associating with "a Muslim Brotherhood front, created for the purpose of promoting Hamas under the camouflage of 'civil rights,' that was recently alleged and shown to be a co-conspirator in a Hamas-financing case."

Last November, several Republican members of Congress asked the IRS to audit CAIR for excessive lobbying.

"It has come to our attention that the Council on American-Islamic Relations may be in violation of both the anti-excessive lobbying provision of its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by their failure to register with Congress as a federal lobbying organization," wrote Sen. Tom Coburn and Reps. Sue Myrick, John Shadegg, Paul Broun, Trent Franks and Patrick McHenry in a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.

The lawmakers cited an internal CAIR memo uncovered by the authors of the best-selling "Muslim Mafia" which shows that in 2005, when Congress met for fewer than 150 days, CAIR by its own admission came to Capitol Hill no fewer than 72 separate occasions to lobby members of Congress to repeal the Patriot Act.

"In other words," the lawmakers' pointed out in their letter, "half the days Congress was in session that year, CAIR was on the Hill lobbying against this piece of legislation."

According to "Muslim Mafia," co-authored by investigative journalist Paul Sperry and former federal agent P. David Gaubatz, CAIR is operating in the red as membership dues have plummeted to less than 1 percent of total revenues. Members are fleeing the organization due to negative publicity over mounting terror charges. Fundraising also has dried up.

Political support for Saudi-funded CAIR even among liberal Democrats is waning. Between 2006 and 2009, members of Congress attending CAIR's annual fundraiser fell from 23 to just four.

The FBI in 2008 cut off formal ties to CAIR's national office in Washington – located within three blocks of the Capitol – and all 30 of its branch offices across the country.

CAIR at the time blamed its ban on the "right-wing" Bush administration, and confidently predicted that a Democrat administration would restore relations. Yet fully a year into the Obama administration, CAIR remains frozen out of any formal outreach with the FBI.

Also, a federal judge has refused repeated requests by CAIR's lawyers to remove the group's name from a list of unindicted co-conspirators in a scheme to underwrite Hamas terrorism. Hamas, which was designated a terrorist organization by the Clinton administration in 1995, has murdered 17 Americans and injured hundreds of other U.S. citizens.

Another federal judge last month ruled against CAIR in its lawsuit to censor the book, "Muslim Mafia," and the internal documents it uncovered.

Meanwhile, in another setback, the IRS is investigating CAIR for delinquent tax filings. CAIR as a nonprofit group is exempt from paying taxes, but it is required by law to file 990 statements disclosing its revenues, donors and expenses.

CAIR has been raising the lion's share of its revenue overseas, primarily in the Middle East, to make up for domestic revenue shortfalls. CAIR is not registered as a lobbyist or foreign agent.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper refused comment on the controversies swirling around the group.

But CAIR Chairman Larry Shaw in a recent newspaper interview maintained that the group has done "nothing illegal." Shaw, a Democrat state senator in North Carolina, last month announced he would not seek re-election in order to spend more time overseas on CAIR "business."

CAIR in January 2007 prepared a secret "strategy" memo launching what the "Muslim Mafia" authors call a hostile influence operation against Congress to undermine homeland security and anti-terror efforts.

The memo states CAIR would try to "influence" the intelligence committees, along with committees dealing with homeland security and justice, while placing interns in "congressional offices."

At least 15 CAIR officials and advisers have been convicted or implicated in terrorism investigations since 9/11, including its founding chairman.

According to "Muslim Mafia," the list of politicians who have supported CAIR – in spite of its proven ties to terrorism – is long. Its boosters on Capitol Hill have included: