The US House committee on Ways and Means has referred the Council on American-Islamic Relations–California (CAIR-CA) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for investigation, citing serious concerns about misuse of taxpayer dollars and possible violations of federal law.
CAIR-CA could stand to lose its nonprofit status if it is found to have committed these offences.
According to the House referral, CAIR-CA may have improperly used millions in federal funds, provided misleading information to the IRS, and materially supported unlawful conduct, including endorsing and assisting disruptive and illegal Pro-Palestinian campus encampments that led to hundreds of arrests across California.
The referral also expresses concerns about CAIR-CA’s reported involvement in political activity and protests that "devolved into chaos, violence, and law breaking, conduct that may violate longstanding restrictions on tax-exempt organizations."
“In the case of CAIR-CA, evidence suggests that the tax-exempt organization institutionally endorsed and materially supported several encampments on college campuses across California, some of which resulted in violations of the law and/or arrests," wrote Chairman Jason Smith.
CAIR executives urged agitators to defy campus rules
He explained that one of CAIR’s executive directors openly urged agitators to defy campus rules during an unauthorized encampment on the University of California-Los Angeles’s campus that resulted in the arrests of more than 200 individuals, adding that "supporting these types of unauthorized encampments and condoning harmful and illegal behavior on college campuses is not only alarming, but also raises serious questions given CAIR’s larger organizational involvement"
Smith also drew attention to reports of CAIR-CA’s handling of more than $7 million in federal refugee legal-aid funding to resettle Afghan refugees. According to public records, CAIR-CA assisted fewer than 10 percent of the refugees promised.