Hamas-Linked CAIR–California Exposed for $27 Million in Taxpayer-Funded Abuse and Illegal Lobbying

CAIR–California took nearly $27 million in taxpayer money, delivered a fraction of the services it was funded for, concealed millions in lobbying, falsified federal tax forms, funneled refugee funds back into its own offices, and used public grants to support Hamas-aligned activism — all while under active federal investigation. This is not mismanagement. This is a taxpayer-funded political machine hiding behind a 501(c)(3).

The largest Islamic political organization in America — CAIR–California — has been caught in what may be one of the most brazen cases of public-fund abuse, undisclosed lobbying, and extremist-aligned political activity ever uncovered inside a U.S. nonprofit.

A newly released 14-page investigative report by Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN) reveals that CAIR-CA has misused, diverted, or concealed tens of millions of taxpayer dollars while simultaneously elevating Hamas-aligned activists and interfering in U.S. political processes — all under the legal protection of a 501(c)(3). The report draws on Public Records Act disclosures, financial audits, internal CAIR accounting patterns, and formal state and federal complaints, documenting a systemic pattern of deception.

Since 2022, CAIR-CA has taken in over $26.9 million in taxpayer funding, watched its own revenue nearly double, and yet delivered virtually none of the services it was paid to provide. In just one year, CAIR-CA’s annual revenue skyrocketed from $9 million in 2022 to $17.4 million in 2023 — a doubling driven almost entirely by taxpayer-funded grants. This growth coincided precisely with large infusions of federal Afghanistan-related funding and California’s “Stop the Hate” program, both of which CAIR quickly converted into internal cash-flow streams and political resources.

Instead, millions appear to have been self-dealt, secretly redirected, or funneled into illegal lobbying and political organizing. The report also shows CAIR-CA manipulated its public reporting to erase entire categories of government funding, subgrants, and related-party transactions, hiding the true scale of these internal money flows from the IRS and state regulators.

And despite being under federal and state investigation, the group continues to receive more public money. In July 2025, the Trump administration approved another $10 million in federal trust-fund grants for CAIR, even while the DOJ and California FPPC investigations were still active — a stunning oversight failure that allowed CAIR to expand its political operations using taxpayer dollars.

Welcome to the CAIR machine — a political empire operating with taxpayer cash, zero accountability from our government, and decades of extremist baggage the media refuses to expose.

KEY FINDING #1 — CAIR Misused Millions Meant for Afghan Refugees

In 2021–2023, the United States awarded CAIR-Los Angeles $7.2 million specifically to provide legal aid to 1,800 Afghan refugees — people fleeing Taliban rule after the disastrous Biden withdrawal.

According to CAIR’s own filings, they delivered services to:

Only 177 Afghan refugees — just 9.8% of what they were funded to do
20 Afghan naturalization applicants out of 172 total
74 Afghan immigration applicants out of 137 total

The rest of the taxpayer-funded help went to:

Mexican nationals
Chinese nationals
Russians
Iranians

— all populations explicitly prohibited by the federal grant. Many of these individuals were citizens of nations considered adversarial or high-risk by U.S. intelligence assessments, which raises further national-security concerns about why CAIR opted to serve these groups instead of the intended Afghan population.

In total, more than 70% of all individuals served under the Afghan-only grant were not Afghan refugees — a direct violation of federal grant terms. CAIR-CA even provided naturalization services to 42 Mexican nationals — more than twice the number of Afghan refugees who received the same service.

In other words: Funds meant for Afghan war refugees who were allowed to come to America after helping our military were illegally used for entirely different immigrant populations — including nationals of hostile foreign governments. The report shows these misallocations were not isolated errors but repeated quarter after quarter, reflected in every set of CAIR’s ALSP filings.

This alone triggers potential violations of the False Claims Act, federal grant law, and criminal fraud statutes.

KEY FINDING #2 — CAIR-CA Diverted $3.6 Million in a Circular Money Scheme

The Afghan grant required CAIR-CA to distribute at least $5 million to approximately 40 independent service providers.

Instead, CAIR secretly diverted $3.6 million back into its own Los Angeles office, despite CAIR-LA not being a separate legal entity.

This is a circular self-payment scheme — a classic red flag for:

Self-dealing
Conflict of interest
Grant fraud
Books-and-records falsification

The diversion was so blatant that CAIR listed itself both as the “grantee” and the “sub-grantee” on official documents, falsely presenting an internal transfer as if it were an external partnership. The report also notes that CAIR-LA lacked independent legal or tax status, meaning the subgrant did not — and could not — meet federal requirements.

The documentation shows CAIR was effectively paying itself with federal cash while claiming those funds were being used by “external subgrantees.”

If any other nonprofit attempted this, the DOJ would already be issuing subpoenas.

KEY FINDING #3 — CAIR Hid Over $3.13 Million in Lobbying Expenses

For ten years, CAIR-CA reported $672,000 in lobbying to the IRS.
But their actual expenditures exceed $3.8 million — a fivefold difference.

Meaning 78% of CAIR’s lobbying was concealed from federal regulators. At the same time, CAIR-CA:

Was not registered as a lobbying employer in California
Was not registered at the federal level
Continued receiving federal grants (which cannot be used for lobbying)
Organized legislative campaigns while portraying itself as a humanitarian nonprofit

The organization actively pushed political outcomes such as legislative redistricting maps and opposition to antisemitism-related protections in California schools, all while receiving federal funding.

This likely violates:

The Political Reform Act
The Lobbying Disclosure Act
IRS 501(c)(3) restrictions
31 U.S.C. §1352 (prohibiting use of federal funds for lobbying)

This type of concealment is not an accounting error; it is an intentional misrepresentation. The report emphasizes that CAIR’s undeclared lobbying costs surged at the exact moment its federal funding increased, suggesting a direct commingling of taxpayer dollars with political influence campaigns.

KEY FINDING #4 — CAIR-CA Filed False and Misleading Federal Tax Forms

The report documents extensive concealment in CAIR-CA’s IRS Form 990 filings:

Millions in government grants were hidden under vague “contributions”
Required subgrant disclosures were omitted
Schedule I vanished entirely in 2023
Related-party transactions were concealed, hiding the true flow of taxpayer money

In addition, CAIR removed Schedule R disclosures, hiding the financial relationships between CAIR-CA and its regional chapters, even though those relationships involved millions in federal funds.

These are potential violations of:

26 U.S.C. §7206 — filing false returns
18 U.S.C. §1001 — false statements to federal authorities
California’s False Claims Act

This pattern suggests deliberate concealment, not oversight. The report shows that these omissions align perfectly with the timeline of CAIR-CA’s sudden grant-funded revenue explosion, which raises obvious questions about intent.

KEY FINDING #5 — Taxpayer Funds Intersect With Pro-Hamas Activism

Despite receiving $2.6 million in “Stop the Hate” grants from California, CAIR leadership publicly:

Celebrated Hamas-linked figures
Promoted “martyrs”
Encouraged anti-Israel encampments
Directed supporters to donate supplies to campus occupations
Organized political agitation on campuses during ongoing federal funding cycles

At the same time, CAIR actively built and financed a “student resistance” ecosystem that mirrored Hamas-aligned messaging, including:

Teach-ins led by CAIR directors
Legal and financial aid for radical activists
Hiring student protestors who lost jobs due to extremist behavior

According to the NCRI–IAN report, CAIR-CA created an “Education Fund” — later rebranded as the “Champions of Justice Fund” — specifically to support pro-encampment students. The fund solicited over $64,000 and distributed $20,000 in scholarships and emergency assistance to 20 students as of October 2024.

Separately, a CAIR-promoted encampment donation campaign raised more than $100,000, illustrating how CAIR leveraged charitable branding to financially reinforce disruptive campus activism.

CAIR leaders — including the statewide CEO — directly participated in encampments, delivering sermons, coordinating strategy sessions, and amplifying protest messaging. These activities are wholly incompatible with the goals of California’s taxpayer-funded “Stop the Hate” program and may violate both state and federal restrictions.

Subsequent media coverage shows that CAIR’s California network marketed these funds to students who had lost housing, scholarships, or disciplinary standing for leading radical encampments — effectively transforming taxpayer-supported infrastructure into a reward system for the most aggressive anti-Israel agitators.

One case reported in the press involved a Harvard Law graduate who took part in an anti-Israel “die-in,” was arrested after accosting a Jewish student, later received a prestigious fellowship, and ultimately went to work for CAIR-Los Angeles — a textbook example of how elite institutions and CAIR’s political apparatus now function as a seamless pipeline for radical activists.

KEY FINDING #6 — CAIR-CA Remains Under Federal Investigation, Yet Continues Receiving Millions

CAIR-CA is already under active investigation by:

U.S. Department of Justice (EOIR)
California Fair Political Practices Commission

Yet despite open investigations into fraud and illegal lobbying, the Biden administration approved another $10 million in federal trust funds for CAIR in July 2025.

This is a catastrophic oversight failure and a national security risk. Regulators ignored DOJ warnings, active FPPC case files, and years of documented compliance red flags — effectively rewarding CAIR with more taxpayer cash at the height of its misconduct.

THE CAIR PATTERN: Extremism, Deception, and Foreign Influence

None of this should surprise anyone familiar with CAIR’s history. The organization has operated under a cloud of extremism and dishonesty for decades.

CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror-financing prosecution in American history — the Holy Land Foundation case. In the aftermath, the FBI formally cut all ties with CAIR, citing concerns over terrorism support and the group’s connections to Hamas.

Those concerns were not theoretical. Multiple CAIR officials and leaders over the years have been charged, arrested, or exposed for supporting Hamas or advancing extremist ideology. Even U.S. allies have taken action: the United Arab Emirates officially designates CAIR as a terrorist organization.

Financially, CAIR’s history is also intertwined with foreign power centers. The organization previously received a $500,000 contribution from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the most influential figures in the Kingdom’s political and financial apparatus. That gift showcased what CAIR has tried hard to obscure: this is not merely a domestic pressure group, but an institution that has long benefited from foreign state-aligned money while positioning itself as a grassroots American “civil-rights” charity.

Internally, CAIR’s own documents and founding memos openly reference a long-term strategy to “Islamize” U.S. public policy — a political project masquerading as civil-rights advocacy.

CAIR’s conduct in civil litigation reinforces this same pattern of secrecy and deception. In a defamation lawsuit brought by former CAIR staffer Lori Saroya, the organization vigorously fought efforts to force disclosure of its foreign donors — only to abruptly settle the case once a judge ordered it to reveal those funding sources. Rather than provide transparency about who overseas is financing its operations, CAIR chose to end the case, a decision entirely consistent with an institution that views public accountability as a threat to its political project.

This pattern was confirmed by undercover national-security investigator Chris Gaubatz, who spent months working inside CAIR’s offices and later testified before Congress. According to internal documents he preserved, CAIR operated as part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s U.S. network, coordinated with Hamas operatives, placed interns in congressional offices to influence policy, conspired to obstruct federal investigations, and instructed staff on how to evade IRS 501(c)(3) limits while advancing a political agenda. Gaubatz also documented that CAIR leadership discussed covering up internal fraud, accessing classified law enforcement information, and using lawsuits and media pressure as strategic tools to shape U.S. policy.

Among all CAIR chapters, CAIR–California has consistently been the most aggressive, both in political operations and financial expansion. What this new evidence makes indisputable is that CAIR-CA is not merely ideological — it is now deeply embedded inside U.S. government funding pipelines, using taxpayer money to expand its political influence, strengthen its activist networks, and advance objectives far outside the bounds of a lawful nonprofit. The NCRI–IAN report makes clear that this is not a one-off failure; it is a fully institutionalized model.

THE REAL QUESTION: HOW DEEP DOES THIS GO?

The findings raise urgent questions:

Why are extremist-linked organizations receiving U.S. taxpayer money?
How did California and federal agencies approve millions with no oversight?
How much federal cash has been diverted into CAIR’s political operations nationwide?
What else has been concealed?
Who inside the government enabled this?

This is not a paperwork error. This is systematic, institutionalized misconduct.

And the American public was never told.

WHAT MUST HAPPEN NOW

The report leaves no ambiguity: this situation demands immediate federal action. Congress and the Department of Justice should issue urgent subpoenas for CAIR-CA’s timesheets, invoices, internal communications, and grant ledgers.

A full DOJ criminal investigation is warranted to examine potential fraud, false statements, and misuse of public funds. The IRS must open a Criminal Investigations inquiry into CAIR-CA’s false 990 filings, concealed grants, and hidden related-party transactions.

All taxpayer funding to CAIR-California should be suspended pending a thorough review, and Congress should convene public hearings to examine how this organization secured and misused federal and state money.

Finally, auditors must be deployed to review every CAIR chapter nationwide, because this scandal is far bigger than California — it exposes how a radical political organization with documented extremist ties has embedded itself deep inside U.S. government funding pipelines and exploited them for political power.

FINAL WORD

While Americans are struggling to afford groceries, a powerful Islamic political organization was quietly handed nearly $27 million in taxpayer money, and used it to build political power, fund activism, and conceal lobbying operations.

This is systemic corruption, enabled by silence, political cowardice, and a media unwilling to confront CAIR’s history.

The truth is simple: Taxpayers have been subsidizing CAIR’s political machine. And now, thanks to hard evidence, the cover-up is over.

RAIR Foundation USA will continue exposing what others refuse to touch.

This article has been cross-posted with permission from the RAIR Foundation.

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