Senator Tom Cotton (R–Ark.) is pressing the IRS to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), accusing the Muslim civil rights organization of long-standing connections to terrorist groups.
In a letter addressed to IRS Commissioner Billy Long on Tuesday, Cotton 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 pointed to CAIR’s listing as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee during the largest terrorism-financing trial in U.S. history. According to Cotton, court documents from the Holy Land Foundation case revealed that CAIR’s founders attended a 1993 meeting in Philadelphia where Hamas supporters discussed advancing an Islamist agenda in the U.S. while hiding their affiliations.
Founded in 1994 and based in Washington, D.C., CAIR has faced scrutiny over alleged terrorist ties for decades. Co-founder Nihad Awad reportedly attended a three-day summit in 1993 with U.S. Hamas affiliates to strategize against the Oslo Accords.
During the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator. Several officials were convicted of funneling millions to Hamas.
In response, CAIR rejected Cotton’s claims, calling them “baseless” and “debunked conspiracy theories.”
“We are an independent American civil rights organization that has spent over thirty years defending the Constitution, countering anti-Muslim bigotry, and opposing injustice,” CAIR stated.
“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.”
An IRS spokesperson confirmed receipt of Cotton’s letter but declined to comment on any potential investigation.
After Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, CAIR officials drew bipartisan criticism for remarks viewed as sympathetic to the Palestinian resistance. Just hours after the attacks, Awad encouraged Arab populations to protest against normalization with Israel.
In later weeks, Awad questioned Israeli survivors’ accounts of violence and praised Palestinians who broke through Gaza’s blockade, saying they were “walking free into their land.”
The White House responded by quietly removing CAIR from its “National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.”
“We condemn these shocking, antisemitic statements in the strongest terms,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates.
“The atrocities of that day shock the conscience, which is why we can never forget the pain Hamas has caused for so many innocent people.”
Controversies around CAIR continued after October 7. Maryland’s director for the organization, Zainab Chaudry, was ousted from a state hate-crime commission after comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. In Kentucky, former CAIR government affairs director Noora Shalash called for jihad and expressed support for ISIS in social media posts.
CAIR has also provided support—both verbal and material—for anti-Israel student groups organizing campus protests.
Republicans have long scrutinized CAIR’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. During a 2011 congressional hearing, Rep. Peter King (R–N.Y.) called the group “discredited,” and Rep. Chip Cravaack (R–Minn.) referred to CAIR as “basically” a terrorist group.
In 2015, Ben Carson, then a presidential candidate and later HUD Secretary, urged the State Department to label the Muslim Brotherhood—and by extension CAIR—as terrorist entities. He also advocated stripping CAIR of its nonprofit status.
Cotton echoed that sentiment in his letter, stating that as a 501(c)(3) organization, CAIR is forbidden from offering material support to terrorism.
“Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism.”
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