Eric Holder Ducks Congress’s Questions About Massive Terrorism Financing Trial.

In 2001, an inconspicuous manifesto now known as "The Project" was recovered during a raid in Switzerland: A manifesto that turned out to be a Muslim roadmap for infiltrating and defeating the West. Today, files containing evidence from the largest terror financing trial in U.S. history, which include details about "The Project", are being withheld by the Department of Justice.

In an explosive two-part mini-series, TheBlaze documentary unit investigates how the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the American government and exposes how our nation's safety is in jeopardy as a result of this dangerous government cover up.

http://www.theblaze.com/theproject/

 

Homeland Security Implications of the Holy Land Foundation Trial

 he on-going Holy Land Foundation trial has established important facts about the resident domestic Islamic jihad threat inside the United States. Although evidence brought forward in documents and testimony has explosive implications for US Homeland Security, the intelligence community, and every American citizen, relatively little media attention has been paid to it.

This information also has serious implications for professionals, military and civilian, involved in homeland security, DoD plans and strategy as well as national agency intelligence analysts and local law enforcement.  The raw documents outlining the strategic goals and activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in America, now exposed for public view, are substantiating the concerns and information long raised by various private sector counterterrorism think-tanks, organizations and blogs such as Stephen Emerson's Investigative Project and Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch among others.

From an intelligence perspective, the first thing in assessing and evaluating these raw, translated documents is that they all passed sufficient legal scrutiny to be entered into evidence in a federal trial.  Secondly, since these are raw, primary sourced documents of the Muslim Brotherhood and not secondarily sourced, they are the equivalent in a tactical or operational sense of key leadership defector, or detainee debriefing statements, or the capturing of the enemy's strategic campaign plan.  Indeed the title of one document is "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America."  Third, the defendants did not challenge in court the authenticity or veracity of the evidentiary documents. All of which immediately speaks to both the credibility and reliability of these reports for intelligence analysis and exploitation.

Civilization Jihad and the Settlement Strategy

The Brotherhood's strategy memo, while published in May 1991, was drafted earlier, upon a

"...general strategic goal of the Group in America which was approved by the Shura Council and the Organizational Conference for the year [I987]."

In other words this strategy has already been operative for at least 20 years in America. The strategic objective of the Brotherhood in America is clear:

"The Ikhwan [The Muslim Brotherhood's name for itself] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions." 

The primary strategic concept to accomplish the Brotherhood's objective is "civilizational jihad," the usurpation and replacement of American Judeo-Christian and Western liberal social, political and religious foundations by Islam.  The campaign plan is one of colonization, described by the Ikhwan as a "settlement strategy." Explaining this concept they describe it as establishing Islam in America as "stable," "rooted" and "enabled on which the Islamic structure is built and with which the testimony of civilization is achieved."  Recognizing this strategy cannot be carried forward alone by the Brotherhood they recognized the strategy requires that, "They are then to work to employ, direct and unify Muslims' efforts and powers for this process. In order to do that, we must possess a mastery of the art of "coalitions", the art of "absorption" and the principles of "cooperation."

This strategic concept serves to accomplish the clandestine, conspiratorial and ultimate ends and grand strategy of the Ikhwan movement globally and was described this way in a recently published unclassified Pentagon analysis:

"The strategic goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America is multifold:  the destruction of Western civilization through a long-term civilization-killing Jihad from within ("by their [our] hands") and through sabotage ("the hands of the believers") and, secondly; to support the global Islamic movement to establish an Islamic super-state, the caliphate."

The Brotherhood document notes it is their

"...conviction that the success of the settlement of Islam and its Movement in this country [America] is a success to the global Islamic Movement and true support for the sought after state [caliphate] God willing."  

The re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate is likewise the same objective as al- Qaida's, only pursued along different yet reinforcing paths.

Networks, NGOs and Front Organizations

Their strategic concept is oriented on an "organizational" approach, toward building and developing organizations and networks that implement "civilizational jihad" in a gradual and efficient fashion. This organizational and structural approach is what "constitutes the heart and the core" of their strategy.  Following the steady organizational development of Mohamed, beginning with the first mosque, and developed in the modern context by Hassan al-Banna, who resurrected militant Islam by establishing organizations of all types:

"economic, social, media, scouting, professional and even the military ones. We must say that we are in a country which understands no language other than the language of the organizations, and one which does not respect or give weight to any group without effective, functional and strong organizations."

A companion memorandum from the same period provides a shorthand history of the Brotherhood in America beginning in 1962, when the Ikhwan established its first Muslim Student Union which developed through programs of conferences and "camps."

In 1969 the Ikhwan established their separate leadership organization while retaining control and influence over the student unions.  By the 1970s they began to establish affiliated "vocational" and professional organizations, including Muslim Doctors, Social Workers, and Science and Engineers syndicates.  In the mid-70s the Muslim American Youth Association was established under the direction of the Brotherhood, coordinating Muslim youth coming to America from around the world. The Muslim Student Union in the 1980s transformed into the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). In 1981 they founded the Islamic Association of Palestine.  That Association's work is directly tied to the Palestinian Intifada and the establishment and support of the Hamas terror organization [the root basis of the current trial] according to this document.

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in 2003, Richard Clarke said

"...the issue of terrorist financing in the United States is a fundamental example of the shared infrastructure levered by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda, all of which enjoy a significant degree of cooperation and coordination within our borders. The common link here is the extremist Muslim Brotherhood - all these organizations are descendants of the membership and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood."

A third important document is a transcription of a tape-recorded address by Zeid al-Noman in the early 1980s in which he discusses various 5-year phases of the history of Brotherhood activity in America. According to the Investigative Project,

"If there are any questions about what sort of American jihad is envisioned by the Brotherhood, Zeid al-Noman (aka Zaid Naman) lays it out for us. Al-Noman (listed in the personal phone books of both convicted PIJ leader Sami al-Arian and Hamas deputy political bureau chief Musa Abu Marzook), was introduced as Masul or "official" of the Executive Office of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood before a speech he gave in the early 1980s on the Brotherhood in America somewhere in Missouri -- likely in Kansas City. In this fascinating speech, al-Noman explained the history of the Movement, going into detail about its roots in the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the establishment of other front-organizations."

Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News, who has been covering the Holy Land Foundation trial, cites Husain Haqqani, the head of Boston University's Center for International Relations (and himself a former Islamic radical) whose testimony corroborates that the Muslim Brotherhood "has run most significant Muslim organizations in the U.S. as part of the plan outlined in the strategy paper."  Dreher notes that the Brotherhood

"operates as a self-conscious revolutionary vanguard in the United States. The court documents indicate that many leading Muslim-American organizations -- including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim American Society -- are an integral part of the Brotherhood's efforts to wage jihad against America by nonviolent means." 

However, analysts should also focus on the Q&A where Noman discusses various activities of the group.  Noman clarifies that the term "special work" refers to "military work" and training as opposed to "securing work", which deals with safeguarding the organization from penetration and monitoring by US security agencies or law enforcement -- in other words, their own counterintelligence activities.

In terms of military training, Noman highlights a distinct advantage in America because "there is weapons training in many of the Ikhwan's camps" whereas in other countries that training would have to be conducted secretly or at great risk.  It is likely that the Ikhwan in America has been and is conducting military training for contingencies in America, and to support Brotherhood activities in jihad combat in foreign lands. It should be inferred there are latent military capabilities in US Ikhwan organizations.

Another important concept of the Civilizational-Jihad is

"[u]understanding the role and the nature of work of ‘The Islamic Center' in every city with [how it] achieves the goal of the process of settlement."  

According to the Brotherhood's strategic concept, Islamic religious and educational centers are what,

"[constitute] the "axis" of our Movement, the "perimeter" of the circle of our work.. .the ‘base' for our rise ... to educate us, prepare us and supply our battalions in addition to being the "niche" of our prayers." 

The Centers constitute the hub "for a small Islamic society" which is a reflection and a mirror to our central organizations." 

The Islamic center would serve the interests of all aspects of the Muslim community, at both the individual and family levels, and be

"a place for study, family, battalion, course, seminar, visit, sport, school, social club, women gathering, kindergarten for male and female youngsters, the office of the domestic political resolution, and the center for distributing our newspapers, magazines, books and our audio and visual tapes."

In other words, the Islamic Center serves as a settlement enclave for raising battalions of Muslims and

"...as much as we [the Muslim Brotherhood] own and direct these centers at the continent level, we can say we are marching successfully towards the settlement of Dawa' in this country."

Key Judgments on the Ikhwan in America

• The Muslim Brotherhood in America is a latent insurgency.

According to the new US counterinsurgency manual, FM 3-24, an insurgency is defined

"as an organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict (JP 1-02)." 

What the Brotherhood in America has explained to us, in somewhat lofty but stark terms, is clear.  They exist in America to overthrow our American civilization, our Constitutional order and replace it with an Islamic civilizational model.  As an individual "citizen" that sort of activity constitutes sedition.  As an organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, its adherents and its enablers, should be considered part of a latent insurgency, engaging in protracted mobilization with clear potential of military capabilities.  

Again FM 3-24:

"Stated another way, an insurgency is an organized, protracted politico-military struggle designed to weaken the control and legitimacy of an established government, occupying power, or other political authority while increasing insurgent control."

Their campaign plan describes the structure and organizations of its network, its subversive intent and reflects its political and colonization activism to "increase insurgent control."

• The Muslim Brotherhood and affiliated and derivative organizations should be considered a single entity for purposes of analysis and law enforcement.

The Muslim Brotherhood ideology and human network is the thread binding their macro organization together in terms of leadership and direction, while the affiliated and spin-off organizations serve as nodes and perform functional and specialized roles in line with the general strategic concept of building enclave Islamic communities and performing jihad-oriented tasks.  Consider the way law enforcement treats organized crime. Individuals and subordinate organizations of known mafias are not viewed and treated as separate and independent entities of the mafia organization. Why should the Brotherhood be treated any differently?

• The Muslim Brotherhood's strategic information warfare program seeks to, shape, influence, transform and ultimately destroy America's foundations, in order to leverage and Islamize American global influence for the establishment of a restored caliphate.

In this colonization approach the "Dawa" [the strategic communication messages] of the Brotherhood, serves to influence both national and local American culture, society, policies, and programs, while proselytizing and growing their jihad community in support of the grand strategic objective of a restored caliphate.

• The Muslim Brotherhood meets the foreign intelligence threshold requirements of DoD Directive 5240.1-R, the "procedures governing the activities of DoD intelligence components that affect United States persons"

This executive branch directive allows for the collection and retention by DoD of foreign intelligence information on US persons defined as US citizens, green card holders or legal aliens with legitimate visas.

Intelligence "may be collected by a DoD intelligence component only if it is necessary to the conduct of a function assigned the collecting component...." DoD can collect information freely given by consent, information publicly available and information deemed to be "foreign intelligence" if the US person meets any of these "foreign intelligence" criteria:

"a.  individuals reasonably believed to be officers or employees, or otherwise acting for or on behalf, of a foreign power;   b.  an organization reasonably believed to be owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a foreign power;  c.  persons or organizations reasonably believed to be engaged or about to engage, in international terrorist or international narcotics activities."

In its own documents, the Ikhwan in America has defined itself as a hostile threat to the American constitutional order. It has identified itself as a "foreign agent" of the greater global jihad, and exists as part of the transnational "Ikhwan Movement." The Holy Land Foundation trial has established evidence of material support to terrorism by Brotherhood entities and ties to international terrorism, namely Hamas and likely other jihad terrorist organizations in the Middle East. Therefore, the Muslim Brotherhood in America meets all three criteria of DoD Directive 5240.1-R.

• The Muslim Brotherhood in America crosses the Law Enforcement Agency "criminal predicate" threshold for the purpose of intelligence-led policing.

The Muslim Brotherhood by virtue of its activities constitutes a current and continuing "threat to public safety." Law enforcement intelligence is a distinct category from national security intelligence.  Law enforcement intelligence requires a "criminal predicate" or expectation of a violation of domestic laws commensurate with the protection of civil liberties.  The Muslim Brotherhood as a latent insurgency, as part of the global jihad espousing the ideology of jihadism to destroy American civilization, with objectives overlapping al-Qaida's and a history of material support to terrorism, should be presumed to be a current and continuing criminal racketeering activity.  They should be targeted just like the mafia.

No one talks about a "moderate" mafia.

• The Muslim Brotherhood in America is part of the radicalization infrastructure that supports the "phases of radicalization" described in the recently published NYPD Report, Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.

The NYPD Report states,

"We now believe that it is critical to identify the al-Qaeda inspired threat at the point where radicalization begins."

By definition the Ikhwan in America came to these shores expressly identified with its religious roots and strategic objectives, and did not arrive here aiming to assimilate into America. In fact their stated goal is quite the opposite: to assimilate America into the Caliphate.  

The NYPD report continues,

"Despite the economic opportunities in the United States, the powerful gravitational pull of individuals' religious roots and identity sometimes supersedes the assimilating nature of American society which includes pursuit of a professional career, financial stability and material comforts." 

According to the Brotherhood strategy,

"It is a Muslim's destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny..."

It should be inferred that Muslim Brotherhood dominated or influenced Islamic Centers and front groups are the start point for phased Islamic radicalization and may also serve as the projection platform for radicalized, jihad-oriented American Muslims.

• Naturalized American citizens identified as members of the Muslim Brotherhood have violated their oath of citizenship and deceived the US government as to foreign allegiances and intent. The oath reads:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion." [hyperlinks added.]

Finally, the unclassified analyst's memo published in the Pentagon's J-2 intelligence staff on the implications of these Brotherhood strategy documents and as reported by Bill Gertz of the Washington Times and Doug Farah of the Counterterrorism Blog listed several critical conclusions of the Brotherhood's strategic plan for America:  

"The HLF Trial is turning up primary source threat documentation and information that provides new insights into global jihad organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood.   

• "These documents are beginning to define the structure and outline of domestic jihad threat entities, associated non-governmental organizations and potential terrorist or insurgent support systems.

• "The Memorandum also describes aspects of the global jihad's strategic information warfare campaign and indications of its structure, reach and activities.

• "Consequently, outreach strategies must be adjusted in the face of credible information that seeming Islamic humanitarian or professional non-governmental organizations may be part of the global jihad with potential for being part of the terrorist or insurgent support system."

The bottom-line conclusion on that J-2 analyst's memo is that the above assessment is accurate and consistent with the "intelligence reporting" from the Holy Land Foundation Trial.  

Those Homeland Security, Intelligence and military officials involved in future plans, strategy and operations must recognize too they are more than 20 years behind on this threat.  

Donald J. Reed critiqued the 2002 National Strategy for Homeland Security. He wrote,

"Much of what it prescribes for homeland security... conforms to Clausewitz's definition of preparations for war instead of the conduct of war proper. It does not provide an objective or a strategy for offensive actions to counter terrorism, to preempt it at United States borders, or for taking the strategic offensive in the war on terror."

It is now up to the strategic leadership within the US Homeland Security, military and intelligence communities to begin to demonstrate they have strategic comprehension of the resident and latent terrorist and insurgent threat in the United States and take appropriate steps to mitigate and defeat those threats.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/09/homeland_security_implications_1.html

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 Since it surfaced nearly two years ago, it remains the most explosive document from both Holy Land Foundation trials.

“This is believed to be the manifesto of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America,” intones Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Muslim physician from Phoenix and an outspoken critic of radicalism in his introduction to “the document” in a controversial new film which has caused a stir.

This clip from “The Third Jihad” uses evidence from the HLF trial and other sources to argue that there continues to be a concerted, furtive effort by a small faction of radical Muslims in the U.S. to impose Shariah, or fundamentalist Islamic law, on Americans.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said this about a recent screening at an influential Jewish center in L.A.: “‘The Third Jihad’ resorts to innuendo, minimalism, sensationalism, and conjecture. In a pluralistic society in which healthy community relations are a necessity, agenda-driven films such as this do little to defuse confusion about religious minorities and educate the public in an honest and credible manner.”

CAIR is targeted in the film, and weathered criticism during the HLF trial that it was a front for Hamas.
So, what’s all the fuss over this document?

It was known during the first HLF trial as

government exhibit 3-85.pdf

, and, during the retrial, as

Elbarasse Search 3.pdf

. The latter refers to where the original 15-page document (the exhibits have an attached, government-created translation) was found — in the home of unindicted co-conspirator Ismail Elbarasse.
In 2004, the FBI searched his Virginia home, where they found a trove of Muslim Brotherhood archival material. The Brotherhood is the parent organization of Hamas, the terrorist organization that the Holy Land defendants were ultimately convicted of supporting.
According to published reports, authorities in Maryland arrested Elbarasse after spotting his wife videotaping portions of a major Chesapeake Bay bridge while they rode across it in their SUV.
As we pointed out during the first trial, the document has continued to take on a life of its own, way beyond the HLF case.

Here’s a key paragraph highlighted in the movie:

Sounds rather horrifying. Sentiments like this have spawned considerable interest.
But lawyers for the HLF defendants say that the document is old (18 years as of yesterday) and merely the ramblings of a fringe element of a fringe element.

“Wishful thinking,” as Mahdi Bray explained it to me when I asked him about all of this during the first HLF trial, which ended in a hung jury. Bray is the controversial director of the Washington, D.C.-based Muslim American Society’s Freedom Foundation, which some believe is the current incarnation of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. Bray denies that.

“I wouldn’t be candid if I didn’t say there weren’t some old-timers who want to hold onto the old way, who say that … this should be our model,” he told me. “We said ‘So what? It doesn’t work here.’ We’ve been very adamant about that.”

“There’s a maturation that’s taken place in the American Muslim community that’s either not understood, or understood but viewed as a threat to other interest groups in this country.”

Mark Briskman, regional director of the Dallas Anti-Defamation League, a pro-Jewish organization, countered that age has nothing do with the documents’ content.

“The Hamas charter is dated, but the terrorists have never renounced that document,” he said, adding that it calls for the destruction of Israel. “The Constitution is dated, but we still follow it.”
“We’ve never seen a document like this,” he said. “That’s their plan for taking over Western civilization. This is the smoking gun. We think this is a document that needs to be understood and seen widely in the U.S.”
Unfair or not, the movie is another step in that direction.

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FBI: CAIR is a front group, and Holy Land Foundation tapped Hamas clerics for fundraisers

 

The FBI took a new slap at the Council on American-Islamic Relations today at the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial.
FBI Special Agent Lara Burns was going over more transcripts from the Philadelphia meeting — the 1993 gathering of Holy Land officials and Hamas sympathizers that the government contends was meant to brainstorm ways to downplay the Foundation’s extremist ties — when talk turned to a passage from defendant Shukri Abu Baker.

 He and others envisioned an “alternative” organization “which can benefit from a new atmosphere, one whose Islamic hue is not very conspicuous,” he said according to the transcript.

Prosecutor Barry Jonas asked Burns whether any groups formed after the Philadelphia gathering fit this mold. “CAIR,” she said.

CAIR is one of about 300 unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case, and testimony has shown that its founder, Omar Ahmad, and current executive director, Nihad Awad, both participated in the Philadelphia meeting.

CAIR has strenuously denied having any terrorist ties, and has filed a request — similar to other groups — to have its name removed from the government’s list of co-conspirators. CAIR maintains that it is a civil rights group focused on promoting understanding of Islam and combating unfair treatment of American Muslims.

Joshua Dratel, attorney for defendant Mohammad El-Mezain, later grilled Burns on her CAIR testimony.
“Just to be sure,” he said, raising up a large posterboard with the name “Council on American-Islamic Relations” scrawled across it, “this is the one with the inconspicuous Islamist hue?”

+ Later Tuesday, Burns’ counterpart, FBI Special Agent Robert Miranda, began his testimony detailing the type of people Holy Land routinely called on to speak at its fundraisers in the U.S.

He and prosecutor Jim Jacks went through a list of Holy Land speakers, seized from a computer at its Richardson offices in 2001, and compared it to lists of known Hamas members and associates.
They found dozens of matches of names and phone numbers among Holy Land speakers and a roster of Hamas members found at the Mississippi apartment of unindicted coconspirator Abdelhaleem Ashqar. Holy Land speakers’ names also showed up in the address book of Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, who has extensive ties financially and personally to many of the defendants.

Defense attorneys and their clients grinned and looked at each other every time Miranda referred to the owner of the address book as “the terrorist Marzook.”

Among those on Holy Land’s speakers list are Mahmoud al-Zahar (a Hamas co-founder), Jamil Hamami, Mohammed Siam and Hamed Bitawi. All of them are listed on a huge chart prosecutors made for jurors titled “Hamas Leaders In The 1990s.”

The Holy Land speakers list also shared some names in a pamphlet outlining the roster of candidates for Jordan’s Islamic Action Front political party. The group is, like Hamas, an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Miranda testified. Their platform, according to the pamphlet, says basically that Palestine must be wrested from Israeli occupation through jihad. The FBI found the pamphlet at Holy Land’s offices.
Miranda and Jacks then began going through speaker activity sheets and other records, connecting fundraising appearances by these Hamas-affiliated speakers and money in Holy Land coffers.
Miranda’s testimony resumes Wednesday.

Read more:
– Tuesday blog: Holy Land Foundation defense attorneys challenge government evidence
– Week two summary: Age of evidence in Holy Land terror funds trial becomes an issue
– Week one summary: Key evidence unveiled against former Richardson Muslim charity
– Overview as the trial began: 2nd chance to try Holy Land Foundation defendants
You can also examine the evidence here

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2008/10/fbi-cair-is-a-front-group-and.html/

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 No Cash for Terror Convictions Returned in Holy Land Case

The FBI’s fight against terrorism funding paid a big dividend yesterday when five former leaders of a U.S.-based Muslim charity were convicted of funneling more than $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Guilty verdicts on all 108 counts against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were announced in federal court in Dallas, Texas, representing the largest victory against terrorist financing in the U.S. since the 9/11 attacks.
“For many years, the Holy Land Foundation used the guise of charity to raise and funnel millions of dollars to the infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization,” said Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “This prosecution demonstrates our resolve to ensure that humanitarian relief efforts are not used as a mechanism to disguise and enable support for terrorist groups."

The FBI first got involved in the Holy Land case nearly 15 years ago. In 1994, we began looking into the organization’s financial ties to Hamas. During the investigation, our agents traveled the globe to conduct more than 100 interviews, to sort through hundreds of boxes of documents (including many Arabic documents), to view hundreds of video and audio tapes in Arabic, and to review thousands of pages of bank records.
Noting that the FBI's top investigative priority is counterterrorism, Robert E. Casey, Special Agent in Charge of our Dallas office, applauded yesterday’s verdicts and put terrorists on notice: “The FBI will continue to keep the country safe by actively investigating all forms of terrorist threats, whether that threat manifests itself in the planning or execution of a violent terrorist act or other crimes that provide support to terrorist organizations.”

The Holy Land Foundation, based in a Dallas suburb before it was shut down in 2001, provided about $12.4 million in funding to Hamas-controlled organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Fighting terrorism by choking off its funding source is one of the many techniques we use to proactively disrupt and dismantle terrorist enterprises before they strike. The case against Holy Land was investigated by one of our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which bring together local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

In December 2001, three months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Holy Land as a “Specially Designated Terrorist” group. We raided the organization’s Texas headquarters, seized its assets, and shut down its operation. At the time, Holy Land was ranked as the country's largest Muslim charitable organization.

Hamas was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1995, and that made contributions to the group illegal. The 108 counts the Holy Land defendants were convicted of yesterday, including providing material support to Hamas and money laundering, carry stiff sentences. No sentencing date has been set.
During the trial, the government presented evidence that Holy Land Foundation and the five defendants provided approximately $12.4 million in support to Hamas and its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by eliminating the State of Israel through violent jihad. Evidence was also presented that several of the defendants have family members who are Hamas leaders, including Hamas’s political chief, Mousa Abu Marzook.

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 June. 7, 2012 Members of the House Judiciary Committee on oversight on Thursday called on U.S. Attorney General to provide documents and evidence relating to the landmark Holy Land Foundation trial – the largest terrorism financing trial in U.S. history.

The committee made a nearly identical request more than a year ago, however, the documents were never made available by Holder or his department, lawmakers say.

Following court proceedings, the Holy Land Foundation was found guilty of providing millions of dollars in funding to Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations in 2008. Named as “unindicted co-conspirators” in the trial were the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Both have documented ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood…which then have ties to the Obama administration, but I digress.

Lawmakers, like Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), are again asking to see the evidence presented in that trial, a request that Holder does not seem to be in a hurry to fulfill. In an impassioned speech, the congressman challenged Holder to uphold his oath to “justice.”

“When I hear an attorney general of the United States come before us and say, somewhat cavalierly, there is a political aspect to this office, it offends me beyond belief. Your job is justice, Mr. Attorney General, Gohmert told Holder.

He went on, “When we made a request a year ago – here – for the documents that your department has produced to people who were convicted of supporting terrorism. They are terrorists, and we wanted the documents you gave to the terrorists. We are a year later, and we still don’t have them.”

As he spoke, the cameras showed Holder looking away and down at a stack of papers, seemingly refusing to make eye contact with him.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Ariz.) Grills Eric Holder on the Holy Land Foundation trial during a Judicial Committee hearing on June 7, 2012.

Gohmert added that it made ‘no sense” that the United States Attorney General would be more “considerate” to supporters of terrorism than to members of Congress.

“I am asking for the documents your department produced to the terrorist supporters convicted in the Holy Land Foundation trial. Can we get those documents?” he asked.

“Well, certainly you can have access to those things that are on the public record and that were used in the trial. I was also a judge I sat in this Washington, D.C. …” Holder began.

“So, is that a yes or a no that we will get those documents?” Gohmert said, cutting him off.

Holder again ignored the question, and never got back around to providing a firm answer stating whether he would produce the requested documents.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) also pleaded with Holder to provide Congress with the documents from the Holy Land case. Once again, the attorney general would not budge or make a firm commitment.

“On April 27, 2011, members of this committee asked you to give us information surrounding the decision by a justice to forgo prosecution of the unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case. This is the largest terrorism finance case, of course, in U.S. history. You’ve refused to comply with this request,” Franks said to Holder.

With federal agents in the background, Shukri Abu-Baker, CEO of the Holy Land Foundation in Richardson, Texas, conducts a satellite interview in Arabic with the Al Jazeera television network. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

“You’ve still not prosecuted despite there being what many consider to be a mountain of evidence against these jihadist groups, at least one of which now says it is working inside your agency to help advise on the purge of counter-terrorism training materials,” he continued, seemingly referring to CAIR and ISNA.

(Related: Want to Know Just How Close the Muslim Brotherhood is to the Obama Administration?)

Franks argued that evidence outlines the jihadist network within the U.S. and amounts to roughly 80 “bankers boxes” full of documents. Just like his colleague, Franks informed Holder that the defense lawyers in the Holy Land Foundation trial were given access to the evidence, therefore Congress should be given the same courtesy.

“Members of this committee and other committees would like to review this evidence, whether it has to be on a classified basis or not,” Franks said. He continued and asked that Holder give his word he would provide the documents to Congress.

“It’s hard for me to answer that question – ” Holder started.

“No it’s not. It’s not hard to answer. It’s will you or will you not,” Franks interrupted.

What was Holder’s ultimate response? He eventually replied, “I can certainly take your request and we can check to see what the nature of the evidence is and make a determination about whether it’s appropriate for that material to be reviewed. I just don’t know.”

It was later reiterated that it was seemingly appropriate for defense lawyers for convicted terrorism supporters to view the “material” but somehow not for members of United States Congress.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

But Franks didn’t stop there. He also formally requested the names of the outside groups that Holder admitted were working with his department and the FBI to remove certain information from counter-terrorism training material. While Franks called it “purging,” Holder argued it was just the process of removing inaccurate information.

“It’s been reported that multiple agencies including the FBI are now purging counter-terrorism material of information outside groups might fight offensive, including discussion of things as fundamental as that quote, ‘al Qaeda is a group that endorses violent ideology that should be examined,’unquote,” he said to Holder. “This strikes many as the sacrificing of vital national security… on the alter of political correctness.”

Holder again confirmed later in the conversation that “outsiders” were coordinating with the federal government in the process of redrafting counter-terrorism training materials, but that the measure was only to remove information was was determined to be “simply not true,” and not motivated by political correctness.

Franks then requested that Holder reveal who the outside groups were – Holder named none of them. This is the answer he got:

“This is something that is being run primarily out of the FBI. I mean, to the extent that there are outsiders who are involved that we are trying to interact with – we could perhaps try to get you those names,” said Holder.

A few moments later, Franks told Holder point-blank that there was a specific jihadist group that claimed they were helping with the purging process – he declined to name that group.

“I don’t think that’s accurate, but I will relay that request to the FBI, Holder replied.

High Treason: Obama and Holder Drop Indictments Against Muslim Brotherhood-Tied Group CAIR et al at DoJ

 

For years Atlas and Atlas readers wanted to know why there were no indictments and prosecutions of the Muslim Brotherhood co-conspirators (CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, MAS) named in the largest terror funding trial in US history (here, for example).  Obama and Holder appear to have scuttled them, much the same way as they dropped the voter intimidation charges against the Black Panthers (a case that was, by and large, already won).
I have been waiting on an explosive FOIA -- and the DoJ has been unresponsive, pushing back my request to an indeterminate time due to "backlog."

Remember in 2012 to volunteer, support, and campaign for politicans who promise to follow through on prosecuting Muslim Brotherhood terror-tied groups in the US. DO IT!

Did Obama and Holder Scuttle Terror Finance Prosecutions? PJM

High-level source concedes DOJ let off CAIR co-founders and others for political reasons.

During the House Homeland Security hearing last month on the topic of radicalization in the American Muslim community, one exchange between L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN) concerned the relationship between the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and Hamas terrorist front the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Sheriff Baca told the congressman:

We don’t play around with criminals in my world. If CAIR is an organization that is a quote “criminal organization,” prosecute them. Hold them accountable and bring them to trial.

But according to a high-ranking source within the Department of Justice, who spoke exclusively to Pajamas Media on the condition of anonymity, Sheriff Baca, a long-time supporter of CAIR, was probably already in on the joke.
The joke is that a number of leaders of Islamic organizations (all of whom publicly opposed the King hearings on Muslim radicalization) were about to be indicted on terror finance support charges by the U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas, which had been investigating the case for most of the past decade.
But those indictments were scuttled last year at the direction of top-level political appointees within the Department of Justice (DOJ) — and possibly even the White House.

Included in those indictments was at least one of the co-founders of CAIR, based on “Declination of Prosecution of Omar Ahmad,” a March 31 DOJ legal memo from Assistant Attorney General David Kris to Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler. A second DOJ official familiar with the investigation independently confirmed these details. Omar Ahmad is one of CAIR’s co-founders and its chairman emeritus. He was personally named, along with CAIR itself, as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror finance trial in 2007 and 2008. During the trial FBI Agent Lara Burns testified that both Omar Ahmad and current CAIR executive director Nihad Awad were caught on FBI wiretaps attending a 1993 meeting of Hamas leaders in Philadelphia.

Dean Boyd, public affairs representative for the DOJ National Security Division, declined to provide me a copy of the March 31, 2010, memo dropping the Omar Ahmad prosecution. Directing me to submit a FOIA request, Boyd did say that “as a general rule, internal DOJ deliberation memos spelling out arguments for or against potential prosecution of any particular suspect are not public.”

Pajamas Media will be filing a FOIA request for all the related documents in this case.
According to my source, the chief reason outlined in the DOJ memo declining to prosecute CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad was the issue of potential jury nullification. The first Holy Land Foundation trial in 2007 ended in a hung jury. When the case was retried in 2008, all five defendants, former executives of the Holy Land Foundation, were convicted on all 108 counts.
But, according to our DOJ source, possible jury nullification was hardly the primary issue in the DOJ’s scuttling of the terror finance prosecutions. “This was a political decision from the get-go,” the source said.

It was always the plan to initially go after the [Holy Land Foundation] leaders first and then go after the rest of the accomplices in a second round of prosecutions. From a purely legal point of view, the case was solid. Jim Jacks [the U.S. attorney in Dallas who prosecuted the Holy Land Foundation executives] and his team were ready to go. There’s a mountain of evidence against all of these groups that was never introduced during the Holy Land trial and it is damning. We’ve got them on wiretaps. That’s exactly why many of these leaders and groups were named unindicted co-conspirators in the first round of prosecutions.

But from a political perspective there was absolutely no way that they could move forward. That’s why this decision came from the top down. These individuals who were going to be prosecuted are still the administration’s interfaith allies. Not only would these Muslim groups and their friends in the media be screaming “Islamophobia” at the top of their lungs and that this is a war against Islam, but the administration would look like absolute fools. It’s kind of hard to prosecute someone on material support for terrorism when you have pictures of them getting handed awards from DOJ and FBI leaders for their supposed counter-terror efforts. How would Holder explain that when we’re carting off these prominent Islamic leaders in handcuffs for their role in a terror finance conspiracy we’ve been investigating for years? This is how bad the problem is. Why are we continuing to have anything to do with these groups knowing what we know?

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/04/high-treason-obama-and-holder-drop-indictments-against-muslim-brotherhood-tied-group-cair-et-al-at-d.html


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