Judge orders Pro-Hamas US group to disclose foreign donors

The judge ordered the CAIR Foundation to provide records identifying certain foreign donors and fund recipients.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Texas chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations will have to disclose foreign funding records and travel information in a lawsuit over Gov. Greg Abbott’s designation of CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization, after a federal judge partly sided with Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a discovery dispute.

US District Judge Alan D. Albright of the Western District of Texas issued the order Tuesday, granting in part motions to compel filed by Abbott and Paxton.

The dispute stems from Abbott’s November 2025 proclamation designating the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as “foreign terrorist organizations” and “transnational criminal organizations” under Texas law.

Two CAIR chapters in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin sued two days later, arguing that the proclamation was adopted “without due process and in violation of federal law.”

The complaint asked the court to block enforcement of the designations and sought “compensatory damages.”

As part of discovery, Albright ordered the CAIR Foundation to provide records identifying certain foreign donors and fund recipients, as well as communications tied to foreign financial support.

The judge also required the production of records concerning travel by CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad to Egypt, Gaza, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates from 2019 to 2023.

The ruling drew support from conservative activists and Republican officials.

Amy Mek of the RAIR Foundation, which investigates and combats “threats from Islamic supremacists, radical leftists and their allies,” called the decision “a massive victory for transparency and national security.”

Brandon Hall, a Republican member of the Texas State Board of Education, also praised the ruling.

“Your days of masquerading as a ‘Muslim civil rights organization’ are over, CAIR,” he stated. “We will never stop until we push your terrorist organization out of Texas.”

Following Texas’ move, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also designated the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as foreign terrorist organizations.