The FBI cut off the Council on American-Islamic Relations because its own founders showed up in Hamas terror financing evidence.
Now Ron DeSantis just officially labeled CAIR a terrorist organization under a new Florida law – and the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center raced into federal court within hours to stop him.
The organization that cheered October 7 just got designated a terrorist group – and the Left is treating it like a civil rights emergency.
What the FBI Found – and What It Did About It
CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial – the largest successful terrorism financing prosecution in American history.
Federal prosecutors didn't just lob accusations.
They presented evidence at trial linking CAIR's own founders – including its sitting president emeritus and executive director – to the Palestine Committee, a Muslim Brotherhood structure built to funnel money and political cover to Hamas inside the United States.
CAIR co-founders Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad appeared on the Palestine Committee's internal telephone directory.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2072375114990264778?s=20
Both men attended a secret 1993 meeting of Hamas members and supporters – convened specifically to figure out how to derail the Oslo peace process without appearing to be terror sympathizers.
They founded CAIR the following summer.
The FBI's conclusion was unambiguous.
In a letter to U.S. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, FBI Assistant Director Richard Powers wrote that the bureau "suspended all formal contacts" with CAIR because "until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner."
That suspension has never been lifted.
The UAE – a formal American ally – designated CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014.
CAIR's executive director celebrated October 7 at an American Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago, saying he was "happy to see people breaking the siege" – Hamas's massacre of 1,200 Israelis.
This is the organization the ACLU says DeSantis is wrong to label a threat.
What DeSantis Built – and Why This Time Is Different
DeSantis tried this before.
In December 2025, he issued an executive order designating CAIR a terrorist organization and directing state agencies to cut off funding and contracts.
A federal judge blocked it in March 2026, ruling the executive order likely violated the First Amendment.
DeSantis didn't retreat.
He went to the Florida legislature.
HB 1471, signed into law in April and effective July 1, gives Florida a formal, durable process for terrorist designations – run through the Department of Law Enforcement, subject to Cabinet confirmation, and backed by full criminal penalties.
On the law's first day in effect, FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass sent the governor and Cabinet his formal recommendation: designate CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, Antifa, the Sinaloa Cartel, Tren de Aragua, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"We are not going to fund terrorism in our great state," Glass said.
Under the new law, once the Cabinet ratifies – and all three Cabinet members are Republicans – anyone who knowingly provides material support to a designated group faces a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
State university scholarships, K-12 school choice funds, taxpayer contracts, public employment – all cut off immediately upon designation.
Designated organizations also face asset forfeiture and corporate dissolution.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott made the same designation last November, and a federal judge handed him a win in May when discovery proceeded in Texas's favor – proof the statutory path holds in court in ways executive orders don't.
The Real Stakes in This Fight
Since Charlie Kirk's assassination last September, the entire country got a very clear look at what domestic terrorism actually costs – and Trump has moved aggressively to make sure it doesn't happen again.
DeSantis is doing the same thing at the state level, and the ACLU's lawsuit tells you everything you need to know about which side they're on.
To buy the ACLU's argument, you have to believe the FBI's own Senate letter – citing evidence from federal trial proceedings – is irrelevant.
You have to believe that a founding board member of CAIR's Texas chapter sentenced to 65 years for financing Hamas is just a coincidence.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis2024/status/2073908634212356325?s=20
You have to believe that seven CAIR officials arrested, convicted, or deported on terrorism-related charges somehow doesn't count.
You have to believe the UAE – America's ally – got it wrong.
The ACLU calls this a First Amendment case.
DeSantis calls it cutting off terror financing pipelines from Florida taxpayers.
One of those framings is backed by FBI evidence, federal convictions, and allied foreign governments.
The Florida Cabinet meets in an emergency session shortly.
Once they ratify, CAIR faces existential consequences in the state – and the legal fight moves to the Eleventh Circuit, where DeSantis is already appealing the injunction from his executive order.
The Left built its strategy around sympathetic district judges.
That strategy is about to get tested at the appellate level.
Sources:
- Fox News, "DeSantis announces plans to use new state law to target dozens of alleged terrorist groups," Fox News, July 2, 2026.
- Tampa Free Press, "Federal Lawsuit Hits Florida Hours After DeSantis Announces Day-One Terrorist Blacklist," Tampa Free Press, July 2, 2026.
- Tampa Free Press, "DeSantis Names CAIR and Antifa in Day-One Terrorist Blacklist Under New Florida Law," Tampa Free Press, July 1, 2026.
- Investigative Project on Terrorism, "FBI Explains Its CAIR Cut Off," Investigative Project on Terrorism, May 7, 2009.
- Congress.gov, "H.R.4097 – Designate CAIR as a Terrorist Organization Act," 119th Congress, June 24, 2025.
- Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Designates Muslim Brotherhood, CAIR as Foreign Terrorist Organizations," November 18, 2025.
- Just the News, "DeSantis to designate more than 90 groups as foreign terrorist organizations," Just the News, July 4, 2026.
