Democrat Congressman Tom Malinowski’s troubles deepened on Saturday after the NY Post revealed that he’s cumulatively accepted $2,250 from Emadeddin Muntasser, a convicted felon who the federal government said served as a financier for jihadist terrorists.
According to the NY Post, Emadeddin “and two of his associates were convicted in January 2008 on counts of conspiring to defraud the United States government, lying to the FBI and engaging in a scheme to conceal evidence” related to an Islamic charity tied to Islamic jihad.
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The end result: the U.S. government granted tax exempt status to an organization that supported jihadists.
“The organization described its mission as helping war orphans, widows, and refugees in Muslim nations,” The Boston Globe explained in 2011 after Emadeddin’s conviction, initially thrown out, was reinstated. “But prosecutors said it was a successor to a US branch of a group founded by Osama bin Laden to recruit, fund, and transport Muslim militants involved in armed conflicts around the world.”
Here’s more background from the U.S. Department of Justice:
Under MUNTASSER’S leadership, Al-Kifah’s office in Boston published a pro-jihad newsletter called “Al-Hussam,” which means “The Sword” in Arabic, and distributed flyers which indicated that it supported the mujahideen on the frontlines. In these flyers as well as other fundraising materials, Al-Kifah claimed it was a tax exempt organization when in fact it was never granted such status. Shortly after media reports in March and April 1993 linked AlKifah’s Brooklyn office to Islamic militant groups, fighters in Afghanistan, and violent acts, MUNTASSER, who was then the chairman and director of Al-Kifah’s Boston office, incorporated Care International to perform the same functions of Al-Kifah under a different name. In Care International’s Articles of Incorporation, MUNTASSER stated that Care International was exclusively involved in “charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes,” when in fact it was also engaged in the solicitation and expenditure of funds to support the mujahideen and promote jihad and assumed the activities of Al-Kifah including the publication of its pro-jihad newsletter, Al-Hussam. Further, MUNTASSER intermingled the monies collected by Care International with that collected under the name Al-Kifah and transferred assets from Al-Kifah to Care International.
In June 1993, MUNTASSER sought a tax exemption for Care International from the IRS pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3) on the basis that Care International was an exclusively charitable organization. On behalf of Care International, MUNTASSER executed, under the penalties of perjury, an IRS Form 1023 Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (“1023 Application”). Although instructed to describe all current and proposed activities of Care International, when MUNTASSER completed this application, he did not disclose Care International’s current activities involving the promotion of jihad through the distribution of the Al-Hussam. Nor did he disclose an intention for Care International to solicit money for jihad or the mujahideen or to promote jihad and the mujahideen through the distribution of publications. In response to a question whether Care International was a successor to another organization on the 1023 application, MUNTASSER lied and concealed from the IRS that Care International was the successor to Al-Kifah.
The GOP frontrunner to challenge Malinowski in November demanded that Malinowski return the donations which go back to 2018.
“This is but another chapter in the history of Tom Malinowski’s lack of integrity and repeated poor judgement,” said former State Senator Tom Kean, Jr. “He needs to donate the thousands of dollars he received from Emadeddin Muntasser to a 9/11 related charity and then explain what he was thinking when he took Muntasser’s check in the first place.”
“Tom Malinowski should not waste another minute; he should immediately return that dirty money in the form of a donation to the numerous organizations that continue to help victims and families of victims who still suffer to this day,” added Kean for Congress Campaign Manager Dan Scharfenberger. “It is a disgrace that Tom Malinowski and his campaign repeatedly accepted these contributions.”
Tom Malinowski remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for failing to report millions of dollars in trades – many of which involved “pandemic stocks” like Peloton and a Covid-19 testing company – in clear violation of federal law.
