Sen. Tom Cotton calls on IRS to probe CAIR's nonprofit status

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton requested that IRS Commissioner Billy Long launch an investigation into the nonprofit status of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ alleged ties to terrorist organizations.

Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, wrote, “CAIR purports to be a civil rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights of American Muslims. But substantial evidence confirms CAIR has deep ties to terrorist organizations.”

He continued, “In fact, in the largest terrorism-financing case in U.S. history, CAIR was listed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee,” referencing the 2007 Holy Land Foundation trial. “Government exhibits from the trial revealed that CAIR’s founders participated in a meeting of Hamas supporters in Philadelphia, where they discussed strategies to advance the Islamist agenda in America while concealing their true affiliations.”

The senator said the connections are not just “historical footnotes.” He cites a November 2023 speech delivered by CAIR’s executive director, Nihad Awad, who said he was “happy to see” Palestinians “breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land” during the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel. 

Mr. Cotton requested that the IRS immediately investigate CAIR’s compliance with section 501(c)(3), including a review of its financial records, affiliations and activities.

The Internal Revenue Code requires that 501(c)(3) organizations operate exclusively for charitable, educational or religious purposes and can’t support anything deemed illegal or contrary to public policy. 

“The IRS has broad authority to probe whether an entity’s operations align with its exempt purpose. Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism,” Mr. Cotton wrote.

A CAIR spokesman said Mr. Cotton’s “baseless” demand that the IRS “target a nonprofit” is built on nothing more than “debunked conspiracy theories” and is “an un-American political stunt straight from the McCarthy era” motivated by the senator’s “desire to protect the genocidal Israeli government from criticism.”

“The truth is that we are an independent American civil rights organization that has spent over 30 years defending the Constitution and countering anti-Muslim bigotry,” the spokesman said.

“We specifically condemned the Oct. 7th attacks on civilians, just as we condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This is called moral consistency. Senator Cotton should try it.”

The HLF was a U.S.-established Muslim charity to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of conflict in the Middle East. In 2001, the federal government designated it a Global Terrorist for financially supporting Hamas.

Between 2001 and 2009, the federal government pursued legal efforts to prosecute HLF associates and leaders for financing Hamas.

According to a 2013 Justice Department report to Congress, CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 HLF trial case.

CAIR’s website shot back at being included on the list of nearly 250 unindicted co-conspirators, saying that neither the organization nor its leadership was indicted for any crime.

“CAIR has never been indicted and can attest to the enormous reputational damage done by the inclusion on the massive list,” the website states.