Abbott asks Treasury Department to suspend Islam group’s tax-exempt status

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took more action Tuesday against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Abbott on Tuesday requested the Treasury Department investigate CAIR for its alleged terrorist ties and suspend its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit status.

Abbott and Texas lawmakers have led the charge to ban Sharia law in the U.S., The Center Square reported. Abbott was the first governor to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations. He also directed state and local law enforcement to investigate them and an Islamic Tribunal in north Texas.

Not soon after Abbott’s actions, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Muslim Brotherhood to be designated as an FTO. In response, Abbott said, “Pres. Trump is right to make this federal designation. It aligns with the Texas designation that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization.”

CAIR and the Muslim Legal Fund of America sued Abbott, arguing his directives are unconstitutional and blamed Israel for his actions, The Center Square reported. CAIR also maintains it is not a terrorist organization and doesn’t fund terrorism.

Abbott has said that CAIR’s X account is routed through a Turkish App store, saying, “This sure seems like an international operations link between CAIR and a country tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

He’s also praised the arrest and deportation of a Muslim leader in Dallas, claiming its another CAIR terrorism connection.

In September, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Dallas officers arrested Jordanian national Marwan Marouf, the fundraising director for the Muslim American Society’s Dallas chapter. Marouf was arrested on charges of illegally living in Dallas after overstaying his student visa from the 1990s. He was also accused of donating nearly $14,000 to the Holy Land Foundation, a terrorist organization. The leaders of the foundation were convicted of sending $12 million to support the terrorist organization Hamas.

On Nov. 21, a federal immigration judge ordered that Marouf be deported to his home country of Jordan. The MLDF, which represents Marouf, denies the terrorism financing allegations, saying he is a “hardworking, family man and civic-minded community leader,” “moral icon,” and “character giant.”

In response, Abbott said CAIR-Texas’ executive director called Marouf “a ‘pillar of the community.’ This is another example of CAIR Texas’ support for Hamas & terror.”

Abbott’s FTO order also cites former CAIR board members, speakers and staff who were sentenced to prison for financing terrorism, conspiring to aid Al Qaeda and the Taliban, bank and visa fraud, financing terrorist causes overseas, violating U.S. sanctions and other charges in the Holy Land Foundation case. It was one of the largest terrorism financing cases in U.S. history.

On Tuesday, Abbott requested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent investigate CAIR for its “longstanding ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and its ongoing support for terrorism.” He also cited a federal court, stating, “there is ‘ample evidence to establish’ that CAIR is associated ‘with Hamas,” in the Holy Land case.

Federal law prohibits FTOs from receiving tax-exempt status; domestic organizations created by known FTOs should not have tax-exempt status, Abbott argues.

He also expressed concerns to Bessent about a CAIR California chapter awarding $1,000 grants to anti-Israel campus activists to disrupt classes and intimidate and harass students after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. According to a Network Contagion Research Institute and Intelligent Advocacy Network report, the CAIR chapter solicited $64,000 in donations to fund the grants.

“Federal investigators and court fillings identify CAIR as a direct subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood and as a ‘front group’ for Hamas in the United States,” Abbott said to Bessent, requesting that he “investigate CAIR for suspension of its tax-exempt status. Americans have generous hearts, and federal law wisely creates incentives to donate to nonprofit organizations that promote the public good. But charity must not become a backdoor to sponsor terrorism, endanger Americans, and subvert our democracy.”

CAIR argues that actions being taken against it are examples of anti-Muslim bigotry “not coming from the right wing generally, but from the old guard Israel First right, who are very well aware that they are losing the narrative among the younger generation of conservatives. Whipping up Islamophobia is their last, desperate attempt at stopping the bleeding.”