Reaching out to the unindicted co-conspirators
The Islamic Society of North America is one of the unindicted co-coconspirators of the Holy Land Foundation in the government's prosecution in federal district court in Dallas. The Counterrorism Blog reports via the Investigative Project on Terrorism:
Sayyid Syeed, former Secretary General of ISNA, and current National Director of its Office of Interfaith Relations, is also on the list as a “records custodian” to testify about “bank records of the Holy Land Foundation.” Syeed is appearing as a representative of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), also named by the HLF prosecutors as a Muslim Brotherhood group and an un-indicted co-conspirator in the case. NAIT, a subsidiary of ISNA, holds the deeds to more than 25% of the mosques and Islamic centers around the U.S. What NAIT does not control, it attempts to acquire, even against the wishes of the mosque’s membership (free registration required) and sometimes by force.The Justice Department, however, also continues a tradition of sidling up to and legitimizing the friends of Hamas among the unindicted co-conspirators such as CAIR and ISNA. Today Audrey Hudson reports in the Washington Times:
The Justice Department is co-sponsoring a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) — an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing federal terrorist funding case — a move that is raising concerns among the Justice's rank and file.To say the least, the Justice Department's action is a betrayal of the efforts of the United States Attorney and his assistants in the Dallas prosecution. Unlike the bogus scandal involving the firing of the eight United States Attorneys, this is the real deal -- not that those in charge of the relevant committees in the House or the Senate will notice. Thanks to Audrey Hudson and the Washington Times for blowing the whistle.Justice lawyers have objected to the affiliation with ISNA, fearing it will undermine the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in Dallas.
"There is outrage among lawyers that the Department of Justice is funding a group named as a co-conspirator in a terrorist financing case," said a Justice lawyer who spoke to The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity.
According to an e-mail from Susana Lorenzo-Giguere, acting deputy chief of the Voting Rights Division, the sponsorship will involve sending government lawyers to man a booth for the Labor Day weekend event in Illinois.
"This is an important outreach opportunity, and a chance to reach a community that is at once very much discriminated against, and very wary of the national government and its willingness to protect them," Mrs. Lorenzo-Giguere said in an e-mail obtained by The Washington Times.
"It would be a great step forward to break through those barriers. And Chicago is lovely this time of year," Mrs. Lorenzo-Giguere said.
As I wrote last week in my NRO column on CAIR's identification as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation prosecution, the prosecution is one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions brought by the government since 9/11. What the Justice Department has done to undermine the prosecution is unconscionable.
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