Congressman Probes White House Communications With Anti-Israel Group

0
10K

Rep. Darrell Issa seeks info on Biden admin's partnership with Council on American-Islamic Relations

 

A Republican in Congress is probing the Biden administration's communications with an anti-Israel group that is known to promulgate anti-Semitic propaganda and whose leader celebrated Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees, opened a probe earlier this week into the White House's relationship with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), asking the White House to turn over all internal correspondence with the group.

The Biden administration enlisted CAIR earlier this year as part of its efforts to combat anti-Semitism, an alliance that drew criticism from pro-Israel groups that say CAIR is one of the leading purveyors of anti-Israel agitprop. CAIR executive director Nihad Awad drew a firestorm of criticism last week after saying he "was happy to see" Hamas "break the siege" on Oct. 7, leading the White House to delete mentions of CAIR from its National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism.

Issa says the White House is engaged in "obvious attempts to both conceal the truth and erase it from public view" and is asking the Biden administration to turn over "any and all text messages, emails, and formal correspondence between all White House personnel and CAIR," according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Free Beacon. The lawmaker is also seeking "all visitor logs to the White House that include any official or affiliate of CAIR—as well as all White House staff who coordinated, approved, or met with—any official or affiliate of CAIR."

The Biden administration has been under fire for its outreach to CAIR in light of the group's years-long dissemination of materials that watchdog groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, characterize as "antisemitic and anti-Zionist." Watchdogs have also criticized the group for its leader's celebration of the Hamas attack on Israel.

"The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege, the walls of the concentration camp, on October 7," Awad said. "And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land that they were not allowed to walk in. And yes, the people of Gaza have the right to self-defense, have the right to defend themselves, and yes, Israel, as an occupying power, does not have that right to self-defense."

While the White House distanced itself from CAIR following Awad's remarks on the Hamas attack, calling them "shocking, antisemitic statements," Issa maintains the Biden administration must have known about the organization's long standing anti-Israel bent before deciding to ally with it.

"It is widely known that CAIR maintains close and continuous ties to the Muslim Brotherhood," Issa wrote. "Indeed, the Department of Justice in United States of America v. the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development—a case of a terror finance scheme that benefited Hamas—CAIR was named by our government as an unindicted co-conspirator."

The White House until last week prominently featured CAIR as a member of its coalition to fight anti-Semitism. A day after Awad's remarks, the White House deleted an online document about its efforts to combat anti-Semitism that included CAIR as a member organization. The document resurfaced a day later with references to CAIR removed, which Issa called "a craven attempt to whitewash history."

Issa is asking the White House to explain "what legal authority" it has "to edit public documents and represent them at a future date as the original material." Altering official government documents could run afoul of the Presidential Records Act, which requires that all official communications be retained in their original form.

"The White House may well be embarrassed by its past association with CAIR, but the remedy for this is to tell the truth, not erase it and hope no one notices," Issa wrote. "Yet that is exactly what the White House has sought to do."

 

 

Source: Free Beacon

 

***

 

 

Like
1
Căutare
Categorii
Citeste mai mult
Economy - Finance
Iran’s Currency Drops to Historic Low Following Trump’s Victory
The Iranian rial traded at 703,000 to the dollar, signaling Iranian fears that Trump could...
By NavyVetUnited 2024-11-09 11:24:15 0 3K
Real Time Facts
France is the most unsafe country to live in out of all 27 member states of the EU !
According to the Global Peace Index, France ranks 74th out of 163 countries in terms of "level of...
By NavyVetUnited 2025-06-29 04:58:25 0 994
Real Time Facts
US Navy Sinks Shipbuilding with $16B in CUTS as China Muscles Up Massive Fleet 
The US Navy is proposing a whopping $16 BILLION CUT to shipbuilding in 2026—driving down...
By NavyVetUnited 2025-06-12 09:05:38 0 1K
Cloak & Dagger
Whole of Hezbollah’s senior command level likely damaged
Former defense official says beeper attack joins other strikes that appear to be "softening up"...
By Israel Swords of Iron Ops 2024-09-20 17:05:50 0 4K
Real Time Facts
Putin speaks about potential Trump meeting, Ukraine’s attack on Caspian oil link
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to reporters during a trip to St. Petersburg on Wednesday...
By NavyVetUnited 2025-02-20 07:21:28 0 2K