On Nov. 19, 2009, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the author of a book about American Muslims groups to return all of the materials his son removed from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) office while working there as an intern. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s 3 page order requires the return of over 12,000 pages of documents, lists about employees and donors, and audio and video recordings. The documents revealed details of CAIR’s plans for participating in public policy debates and encourage Muslims to pursue careers in government. These materials led some members of Congress to accuse of group of spying, but House Judiciary Chair John Conyers (D-MI) issued a statement support the right “to participate in our political process, including by volunteering to work in Congressional offices.”
The order is part of an ongoing lawsuit by CAIR against David Gaubatz for allegedly orchestrating the infiltration of CAIR and taking their materials. The information collected by his son, Chris, was used for writing a book, Muslim Mafia.
According to the Washington Times, Gaubatz’s son worked as an intern at CAIR posing as a Muslim convert. He allegedly remove a January 2007 memo discussing a strategy to sponsor Muslim interns and increase their grassroots pressure on legislators seated on security related committees. The memo also encourages the placement of Muslim interns on Capitol Hill to “focus on influencing congressmen responsible for policy that directly impacts the American Muslim community.” Other allegedly stolen materials include budget reports, real estate records, board meeting minutes, strategy papers, agendas and bank statements. According to Courthouse News, Gaubatz reproduced at least 19 of these documents in whole or in part in his book, which claims that CAIR is a branch affiliate of Hamas. Additionally, he used his blog to post documents, emails and memos along with clandestine audio and visual recordings of private meetings.
CAIR applauded the return of its materials. “We’re glad that our stolen material will be returned to us,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. “We’ll continue with the legal effort to regain our rights and to challenge those who would use these kinds of methods to try and shut down a civil rights organization that’s defending the American Muslim Community.”
Hooper denied the memo on interns has any sinister intentions. “God forbid American Muslims take part in the political process and exercise their rights. I suppose they’re going to investigate the Muslim Staffers Association next.” In addition to advocating for more interns on Capitol Hill, the memo, outlines CAIR’s strategy for developing stronger communications and outreach capabilities, including improving their website.
On Oct. 15, 2009, four Republican Congressmen held a press conference promoting the book and accused CAIR of sending spies to work in congressional offices. Speaking about the CAIR memo, Rep. Paul Brown (R-GA) said the group “is connected to or supports terrorists [and] is running influence operations or planting spies in key national security-related offices.” The lawmakers believed the memo demonstrates CAIR’s intentions to covertly influence legislation (even though it is legal for any nonprofit to do so). The other representatives at the press conference, John Shadegg (R-AZ), Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Sue Myrick (R-NC) requested an investigation to explore if CAIR employees were attempting to infiltrate Congress with interns and other staff positions. Kerri Hanley, a spokeswoman for the House sergeant at arms office was unaware of any formal request. “We have not received any request at this time,” she said
Responding to the accusations, John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement that said, “[L]et me remind all my colleagues that patriotic Americans of all races, religions, and beliefs have the right – and the responsibility – to participate in our political process, including by volunteering to work in Congressional offices. Numerous Muslim-American interns have served the House ably and they deserve our appreciation and respect, not attacks on their character or patriotism.”