Republican lawmakers are urging the Justice Department not to participate in a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America — a group named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing terrorism-financing case.
In a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Reps. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sue Myrick of North Carolina called the Justice Department’s involvement a “grave mistake.”
“In light of the threat that our nation … is currently facing from radical jihadists, and because of the president’s commitment to fighting the war on terror on all fronts, we believe it is a grave mistake to provide legitimacy to an organization with extremist origins, leadership and a radical agenda,” the lawmakers said.
Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he agrees that Justice officials should not attend the conference.
“It is absolute insanity for the federal government, especially the Department of Justice, to be giving any credibility at all to a group like the ISNA, which has such strong links to Islamic extremism,” Mr. King said.
Justice Department spokesman Erik Ablin said in an e-mail that the department has “received the letter, and we will respond to Reps. Hoekstra and Myrick.” He went on to note that the Civil Rights Division and other government agencies — including military recruiters — frequently attend the convention “as part of its outreach and education efforts.”
Rank-and file lawyers within the Justice Department object to participating at the ISNA convention, fearing it will undermine the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
According to an e-mail from Susana Lorenzo-Giguere, acting deputy chief of the Voting Rights Division, the plan to “co-sponsor an exhibit booth” will involve sending government lawyers to man it 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.
Citing The Times, which broke the story on Monday, the lawmakers’ letter said: “Establishing a partnership with ISNA is exactly the wrong approach at this critical juncture in history, setting a precedent that radical jihadists should be the conduit between the U.S. government and the American Muslim population, and we urge you to reconsider your decision to establish an official relationship with ISNA.”
An ISNA spokesman is attending the conference and was not available yesterday for comment. Previously, he said the group welcomes any government agency that can provide information beneficial to the Muslim community.
According to the ISNA Web site, there are three levels of convention sponsorships that allow organizations to operate a booth in the convention hall: diamond, ruby and pearl. The Justice Department has declined to reveal how much money will be spent to obtain a booth.
Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said his staff is investigating government spending on conference-related activities.
“There are few internal fiscal or policy checks on conference spending to ensure tax dollars are not being wasted or being spent to promote agendas that run contrary to our national interests, such as the Justice Department sponsored event by an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing federal terrorist case,” Mr. Coburn said.
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