Its been a wild two weeks since my exclusive Pajamas Media article revealing that political appointees at the Department of Justice had scuttled pending terror finance indictments of several prominent Islamic leaders as part of the Holy Land Foundation case, including Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) co-founder Omar Ahmad. A high-placed DOJ source told me the case was nixed to prevent embarrassment to the Obama administration and to avoid inflaming the Muslim community. House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Peter King then sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding answers about why these prosecutions were stopped.
Then, on Sunday, King went on Fox News and explained that he had spoken directly to the federal prosecutors in the U.S. attorneys office in Dallas who had investigated the Hamas support network in the United States and had prepared the indictments against Omar Ahmed. King said that the career DOJ prosecutors and the FBI agents who had investigated the case were outraged that the indictments had been nixed by political appointees under Holder.
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According to these congressional sources, one case that was scuttled by Assistant Attorney General David Kris (who wrote the memo declining to prosecute Omar Ahmad in the Holy Land Foundation case) was a tax evasion and money laundering prosecution prepared by the U.S. attorneys office in the eastern district of Virginia. The targets of these indictments would have been several Muslim leaders of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the now-defunct SAAR Foundation/SAFA Group, who were investigated and raided for a wide range of activities to support foreign terrorist organizations.
That case was part of an investigation that targeted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Sami Al-Arian, who was charged with contempt by the federal judge in the IIIT/SAAR case for refusing to testify about how the groups had financially and materially supported Al-Arians PIJ front based in Tampa, Florida, despite his plea agreement requiring him to do so. Because of Al-Arians lack of cooperation in the IIIT/SAAR case, federal prosecutors were only prepared to indict the IIIT/SAAR leaders on the money laundering and tax evasion charges.
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In 2008, Barzinji donated $1,000 to the Barack Obama presidential campaign. In the 2009-2010 cycle, he donated to three Democrats : Rep. Jim Moran (VA); Rep. Keith Ellison (MN), the first Muslim congressman; and Sen. Jim Webb (VA). In 2002, Moran returned $10,000 in campaign contributions from officials associated with IIIT and SAAR.
Congressional investigators say they are also looking into another case nixed by Holders DOJ, again involving CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad to be indicted, allegedly, on obstruction of justice charges in the case of Ahmadullah Niazi. Niazi is a California man who had been charged with lying about his terrorist ties before intervention by political appointees in the DOJ. The charges against Niazi were later dropped after problems developed with the FBIs confidential informant.
These additional terror-related prosecutions, scuttled by Eric Holders DOJ, are currently being investigated by various congressional committees.
lol:
