Sen. Cotton wants IRS to investigate a nonprofit for alleged ties to Hamas

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is asking the IRS to investigate the nonprofit status of the Council on American Islamic Relations. Cotton alleges the 501(c)(3) organization has ties to terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

“The Internal Revenue Code requires that 501(c)(3) organizations operate exclusively for charitable, educational, or religious purposes, and are prohibited from providing material support to terrorism,” Cotton wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Billy Long. “Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it should not subsidize organizations with links to terrorism.”

CAIR was named as an unindicted coconspirator in the 2007 trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. According to the Department of Justice, evidence in the case linked CAIR leaders to Hamas. Five of the Holy Land Foundation’s leaders were convicted of providing material support to Hamas. 

CAIR describes itself as an independent civil rights organization that defends the constitution and fights anti-Muslim bigotry. It said it has worked to oppose injustices, including terrorism, ethnic cleansing and genocide, both in the U.S. and abroad. 

“Tom Cotton’s baseless demand that the IRS target a nonprofit organization based on debunked conspiracy theories is an un-American political stunt straight from the McCarthy era and it’s motivated by the senator’s desire to protect the genocidal Israeli government from criticism,” the organization told SAN in a statement. 

The organization condemned Hamas’ attacks against civilians during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and also condemns what it describes as a genocide in Gaza.

“This is called moral consistency and Senator Cotton should try it, but he better check with his handlers at AIPAC first,” the organization told SAN. 

Cotton also cited a speech from CAIR’s national executive director, Nihad Awad, in November 2023 in which he said he was “happy to see” Palestinians “breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land.” CAIR’s National Board chair said Awad has a long history of opposing bigotry and violence and conceded that he should have expressed his views more clearly.

Cotton is not the only member of Congress trying to stop the organization from raising money and continuing its operations.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., introduced the Designate CAIR as a Terrorist Organization Act, which would require the State and Treasury Departments to conduct a formal review and determine whether the organization should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

The bill states that Congress has made the following findings regarding CAIR: 

• CAIR received a grant from the Holy Land Foundation, which closed after being designated by the Treasury Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for funding terrorist organizations. 
• A founding board member for CAIR’s Texas branch, Ghassan Elashi, was sentenced to 65 years in prison after being convicted of multiple crimes, including providing material support to a terrorist organization. 
• The United Arab Emirates designated CAIR as a terrorist organization in 2014. 

However, to be designated as an FTO, the organization must be foreign. CAIR has 30 chapters across the United States.