Senator Tom Cotton urges IRS to investigate CAIR over alleged ties to terrorism

In a formal letter sent to IRS Commissioner Billy Long, Cotton urged the agency to examine whether CAIR’s activities are consistent with its tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The senator argued that CAIR’s ongoing conduct, including affiliations with groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, violates the legal and ethical standards required of nonprofit organizations.

“Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right,” Cotton wrote. “It should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism.”

CAIR, which presents itself as a civil rights group focused on advocating for Muslim Americans, was identified by the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General as an unindicted co-conspirator in the landmark United States v. Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, the largest terrorism financing trial in US history as part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee, an entity formed to support Hamas in the US. According to government evidence, the case “linked CAIR leaders to Hamas, a specially designated terrorist organization.”

More recently, CAIR has continued to face scrutiny for its leadership’s public statements. In a November 2023 speech, CAIR’s national executive director and co-founder, Nihad Awad, said he was “happy to see” Palestinians “breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land,” remarks made in reference to Hamas’ deadly October 7th attacks on Israeli civilians that left 1,200 dead and over 240 taken hostage. The comments led the Biden administration to remove CAIR from its White House task force on antisemitism in late 2024.

“These connections are not mere historical footnotes,” Cotton wrote. “They demonstrate a continued pattern of behavior that should disqualify CAIR from receiving the financial benefits of nonprofit status.”

Steve Emerson, founder and director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, previously told the Jewish News Syndicate that “CAIR was created as a Hamas front group and still functions as a propaganda arm of Hamas to this day.”

The Anti-Defamation League has also raised alarms about the group, stating, “Antisemitism is in the DNA of CAIR. It is part of CAIR’s intrinsic fiber. CAIR leaders often traffic in antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric...some of its leaders have cultivated suspicion among the public toward a wide array of American Jewish institutions.”

According to The New York Post, previous court proceedings have shown links between The Council on American-Islamic Relations Foundation Inc. (CAIR) and terrorist organizations Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. In March of this year, CAIR agreed to settle a case with a former employee rather than open its financial books to reveal its sources of foreign funding.

Under federal law, 501(c)(3) organizations must operate exclusively for charitable, educational, or religious purposes and are strictly barred from supporting terrorist activities. Cotton’s letter requests a thorough investigation of CAIR’s financial records, activities, and affiliations to determine whether it remains in compliance with those requirements.