Judge grants Greg Abbott’s demand for CAIR’s donor list

A Texas court has ordered chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the state to turn over a list of donors, as well as additional documents, including travel by the group's chief executive to countries in the Middle East.

Judge Alan D Albright of the US District Court for the Western Division of Texas, Austin Division, wrote that the Cair Foundation must provide documents "sufficient enough to identify the identities of any foreign donor who has given donations … of $5,000 or more to the Foundation or the Washington Trust Foundation in any single year from January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2024.

The judge also ordered the group to provide documents detailing those who received donations of $2,500 or more between those dates from CAIR or the Washington Trust Foundation, and produce documents "regarding solicitation or receipt of funds on behalf of the Foundation or the Washington Trust Foundation."

CAIR has been ordered to produce documents detailing itineraries for CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad "for trips to Egypt, Gaza, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE during which he met with individuals regarding operations or funding of the Foundation, the Washington Trust Foundation, Hamas, or the Muslim Brotherhood from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2023."

Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote in response to the ruling, "Progress in my legal fight against CAIR. I declared CAIR a Foreign Terrorist Organization. They sued to block it. I demanded CAIR give us its donor list, donee list, and details for Nihad Awad’s travel to 9 countries hosting Islamic terror. A federal court granted my request."

In November of 2025, Abbott designated both CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations, blocking the groups from buying land in the state. Two CAIR chapters in the state filed a lawsuit in response, claiming that their First Amendment rights were being "chilled" and that the proclamation from Abbott unlawfully stigmatized them as terrorist affiliates.

CAIR Abbott Order by Hannah Nightingale