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The political wing of the country’s largest Muslim charity helped propel radical socialist candidates to victory in New York City’s Democratic primary last month, but the Council on American Islamic Relations Action Inc. failed to register with the state’s attorney general — a requirement for nonprofits to solicit cash from New Yorkers — The Post has learned.
In fact, CAIR Action Inc., which urged voters to vote for a roster of congressional candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani including Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, has not registered with any attorney general in any state where it is seeking support, according to a new report from a watchdog group.
“Three candidates in New York are on a likely path to Congress on the strength of support
published by an organization that had no legal right to raise a dollar there,” said Susan George, CEO of the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN). “CAIR Action is now positioned to fundraise off these races straight through November unless the Attorney General’s office acts.”
California’s attorney general barred CAIR Action, which holds 501(c)4 status with the IRS, from soliciting in March, pending registration. Four months later, CAIR Action still has not filed yet continues to solicit in the state, according to the IAN report compiled using public documents. Washington, DC, has also fined the goup for unlicensed solicitation, with CAIR Action incurring a $2,499 fine for failure to register to solicit in the district.
“Two governments have already called this what it is: unregistered charitable solicitation,” George told The Post. “California ordered it stopped, DC fined it, and CAIR Action keeps fundraising anyway — in New York and 15 other states. An organization asking New Yorkers for money answers to someone. Right now, this one answers to no one. And that’s not a condition New York law permits to continue.”
A spokeswoman for the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment on the specific case, but said that charities must register with the office.
The state’s AG has been quick to penalize other nonprofits that have failed to register.
In 2016, one day after press reports revealed the now-defunct Donald J. Trump Foundation had been soliciting without the required Article 7-A registration, the New York Attorney General’s office served a Notice of Violation, ordering it to cease all fundraising in the state. Trump’s charity complied the following day.
In 2020, the same office ordered Black Lives Matter, which held no New York registration, to cease soliciting funds in the state.
CAIR Action is an advocacy group funded entirely by donations and grants, devoting half of its charitable efforts to education and in service of protecting “religious, human and civil rights secured by law,” according its own public documents.
Ahead of the New York primary election last month, CAIR Action produced a voter guide for candidates it endorses in both congressional and statewide elections. The guide featured a QR code for voters to make donations to the group. It’s not clear how much money CAIR Action raised, and it has until next year to report its donations to the IRS.
CAIR Action did not return requests for comment this week.
Registered in Washington, DC, CAIR Action is an advocacy group which works to mobilize and “champion policy priorities that enhance the well-being and representation of Muslim communities,” according to its website. It is affiliated with the larger national CAIR group, a 501(c)3 which prosecutors named an unindicted co-conspirator in a landmark federal case involving the Holy Land Foundation, a Texas nonprofit that raised cash for Hamas.
Last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated CAIR a terrorist group, and the state’s attorney general banned the charity, a situation that CAIR is actively fighting in court. Earlier this month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis paused a plan to designate CAIR a terrorist group after legal challenges from civil rights organizations.
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