Excerpt:
Readers of this site know we have more than a few lingering suspicions about the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Its roots in a Hamas-support network and its reflexive condemnation of virtually all terror-financing investigations prompt skepticism about the self-purported civil rights organization's true objectives.
One thing we never thought, though, is that these guys are stupid. So we're a little surprised that CAIR's "aw shucks, did we do something wrong?" act in the face on FBI freeze-out is treated credibly. To recap, FBI officials decided last summer to break off communication with CAIR. Evidence in the Hamas-support trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) showed CAIR's founders were active participants in early Hamas-related organizational meetings in the United States. Two CAIR founders, Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad, are listed on this phone list of "Palestine Committee" members.
Transcripts from a secretly wiretapped 1993 meeting of Hamas supporters in Philadelphia indicate CAIR actually is an outgrowth of that effort. During testimony, FBI agent Lara Burns described CAIR as a front organization.
FBI officials haven't discussed the evidence or offered an explanation of their decision to break off communication with CAIR. Instead, they repeatedly have said that CAIR national leaders must address "certain issues" before access is restored.