The US House committee on Ways and Means has referred the Council on American-Islamic Relations–California (CAIR-CA) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for investigation, citing serious concerns about misuse of taxpayer dollars and possible violations of federal law.
CAIR-CA could stand to lose its nonprofit status if it is found to have committed these offenses.
According to the House referral, CAIR-CA may have improperly used millions in federal funds, provided misleading information to the IRS, and materially supported unlawful conduct, including endorsing and assisting disruptive and illegal Pro-Palestinian campus encampments that led to hundreds of arrests across California.
The referral also expresses concerns about CAIR-CA’s reported involvement in political activity and protests that “devolved into chaos, violence, and law breaking,” conduct it says that may violate longstanding restrictions on tax-exempt organizations.
The chairman’s referral also noted concerns surrounding CAIR USA’s national network, including its purported connections to terrorism. The letter outlined the organization’s alleged support for Hamas and links to the Holy Land Foundation, a now-shut-down tax-exempt organization under investigation for supporting Hamas.
CAIR executives urged agitators to defy campus rules
“In the case of CAIR-CA, evidence suggests that the tax-exempt organization institutionally endorsed and materially supported several encampments on college campuses across California, some of which resulted in violations of the law and/or arrests,” wrote Chairman Jason Smith.
He explained that one of CAIR’s executive directors openly urged agitators to defy campus rules during an unauthorized encampment on the University of California-Los Angeles’s campus that resulted in the arrests of more than 200 individuals, adding that “supporting these types of unauthorized encampments and condoning harmful and illegal behavior on college campuses is not only alarming, but also raises serious questions given CAIR’s larger organizational involvement.”
Smith also drew attention to reports of CAIR-CA’s handling of more than $7 million in federal refugee legal-aid funding to resettle Afghan refugees. According to public records, CAIR-CA assisted fewer than 10% of the refugees promised.
CAIR is yet to release a statement on its website or social media regarding the referral, however a spokesperson told Fox News that Smith’s letter was “provably inaccurate letter” and “embarrassing “ and based on a “retracted story about CAIR-California that the New York Post had to correct after it repeated a false claim made by a pro-Israel group” is “a sign of how desperate he and other Israel First members of Congress have become to smear and silence Americans who speak up for Palestinian human rights and against the waste of American taxpayer dollars on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
Fox reached out to the NY Post, but did not get a response.