Texas Governor Targets CAIR
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has intensified his campaign against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He recently urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to suspend the organization’s federal tax-exempt status and initiate an investigation into its activities.
In a letter sent on Monday, Abbott claimed that CAIR operates as a subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood and as a front for Hamas, the group responsible for the violence in Israel on October 7, 2023.
This request is part of Abbott’s ongoing efforts against CAIR, America’s largest Muslim advocacy organization. Back in November, he signed an executive order naming CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations under Texas law—the first state in the U.S. to do so. This designation spurred a state criminal investigation, barred CAIR from acquiring property in Texas, and led the organization to file a lawsuit against Abbott in federal court.
Critics often cite CAIR’s past involvement as an unindicted co-conspirator in the historic Holy Land Foundation trial from 2007–2008, which was the largest terrorism-financing case in U.S. history. Five individuals were convicted for diverting over $12 million to Hamas. Court documents have linked CAIR to a broader Muslim Brotherhood network in the U.S.
Many former CAIR officials have been convicted on terrorism-related charges, including material support and money laundering.
Abbott’s letter emphasizes these connections and recent actions from CAIR’s Texas branch. For example, the organization publicly supported a Dallas-area imam facing deportation for alleged ties to Hamas and routed its X (formerly Twitter) account through the Turkish App Store—an action Abbott suggests indicates a link to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In response, CAIR has denounced the governor’s actions as “Islamophobic retaliation,” claiming they are politically charged. They filed a federal lawsuit last month with the Muslim Legal Fund of America, arguing that the terrorist designation violates both the First and Fourteenth Amendments, along with federal authority over foreign affairs.
Typically, revoking an organization’s 501(c)(3) status requires concrete evidence of tax law violations, like significant lobbying or providing aid to sanctioned groups.
Following Abbott’s announcement, conservative activists and pro-Israel organizations lauded the move. Supportive posts garnered significant engagement on X, with many encouraging other Republican governors to take similar action.
