A federal magistrate judge has ordered the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to turn over a list of its major donors to a former employee who is suing the organization for defamation.
In the back-and-forth legal saga between CAIR and former CAIR employee Lori Saroya, the most recent development will require the organization to produce its list of donors who contributed over $5,000 to CAIR from 2014-2022.
A nonprofit civil liberties organization, CAIR works “to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America.” The organization has chapters in various states. Last year, its national executive director, Nihad Awad, faced widespread criticism when he said he “was happy to see” residents of Gaza “break the siege” on Oct. 7, 2023, the date of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
CAIR’s activities were mentioned in a September 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General.
“In 2008, the FBI developed a policy on its interactions with CAIR based in part on evidence presented during the 2007 trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The evidence at trial linked CAIR leaders to Hamas, a specially designated terrorist organization, and CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case,” the report said, though CAIR has denied the claims, according to the New York Post.
Saroya worked for CAIR-MN, the Minnesota chapter of the organization, as its executive director from 2007 to 2016. In 2016, Saroya joined the national organization’s staff and board of directors.
However, Saroya resigned from CAIR in 2018.
According to the judge’s order, Saroya “took to the internet accusing CAIR of various misconduct” after her resignation. Among her accusations, Saroya said CAIR engaged in discrimination, retaliation, negatively portraying Muslims, and receiving foreign funding.
In 2021, CAIR filed a defamation lawsuit against Saroya, but that lawsuit was withdrawn by CAIR. When the organization withdrew the lawsuit, it issued a press release about Saroya and that lawsuit. Saroya then filed her own lawsuit against CAIR claiming that the organization’s press release was defamatory.
Saroya’s lawsuit against CAIR is currently being presided over by United States Magistrate Judge David Schultz of the United States District Court in the District of Minnesota.
In that legal proceeding, Saroya’s legal team made a motion to compel CAIR to produce documents during the discovery process. Among the requested documents was a list of donors who contributed over $5,000 to CAIR from 2014-2022.
Judge Schultz granted that request, and several others, in an order issued on Nov. 25. As a result, the list of major donors to CAIR may become either partly or fully public.
Additionally, Schultz’s order requires CAIR to produce “documents referring or relating to or
reflecting or constituting contributions to CAIR, or any CAIR affiliate, by any individual or entity within, or any governmental unit of, Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait between 2007 and 2014.”
In its 2021 lawsuit against Saroya, CAIR claimed that the former employee defamed the organization and interfered in its business practices by, among other things, publicly saying that CAIR solicits foreign funding and conceals it. In a webpage dedicated to “dispelling rumors about CAIR,” the organization says that “the willingness to accept support from foreign nationals exists as long as there are no strings attached to the bequest.”
“The U.S. government, corporations and many other non-profit organizations, such as the American Red Cross, routinely receive money from foreign nationals,” the website says.
Alpha News reached out to Saroya’s legal team regarding the case. Among other things, the CAIR employee’s lawyer was asked if the list of donors would be made public. However, Alpha News did not receive a response.
One of her attorneys, Jeffrey Robbins, told the New York Post that the order will require CAIR to “turn over evidence about everything from fundraising practices, such as having raised money from foreign sources and concealed it; whether it deceived donors; whether it mismanaged donor money; whether it retaliated against employees or threatened to retaliate against employees for raising concerns about sexual harassment or the like.”
The case has attracted the attention of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, which said CAIR’s recent rhetoric “has opened the eyes of some Democrats who once deferred to CAIR as a representative.”
Saroya is currently a city council member in Blaine, Minn. She was elected in 2020, but lost her reelection bid earlier this year.
Alpha News sent a media inquiry to CAIR regarding this matter, but the organization did not respond.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
