Officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation met and coordinated with employees of a group tied to Islamic terrorist groups in apparent violation of FBI policy, according to a new report from the Justice Department’s inspector general.
The member of Congress who requested the investigation demanded that DOJ remove officials who were found to have violated the prohibition in the wake of the report.
“This documented failure to abide by FBI direction is intolerable,” said Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.), the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, and science, in a letter to FBI director James Comey following the release of the inspector general’s report.
The FBI developed policies in 2008 designed to restrict bureau contact with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) after the group was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a landmark criminal trial involving groups and individuals that provided support for Hamas, a group that the State Department classifies as a terrorist organization.
The trial targeted the Holy Land Foundation, a group that provided significant fundingfor Hamas, and five individuals involved with the “charity.”
