As part of an Investigative Project report on a May Democratic fundraiser featuring House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as well as U.S. Muslim Brotherhood leaders, the IP also reported that former Obama campaign coordinator Mazen Asbahi announced the creation of a new organization called the National Muslim Democratic Council (NMDC). According to the report:
“Following the speeches, a prominent attorney, Mazen Asbahi publicly rose to announce the creation of a new organization called the National Muslim Democratic Council (NMDC). Asbahi was Obama’s 2008 Muslim outreach director but was forced to step down when his prior association with a radical Muslim cleric, Jamal Said, became public. Said was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial. The NMDC seeks to ‘maximize American Muslim support for Democratic candidates and policies.’ The IPT has obtained a memo detailing the creation and agenda of the National Muslim Democratic Council that is marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL; NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION’ In the section marked ‘2012 election strategy’ the group specifically spelled out detailed plans to support the Democrats and target Republicans in ‘key races where American Muslims can make a difference.’
According to the document, these races included:
Defeating Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., in his race against Patrick Murphy, D-Fla.; Supporting former Gov. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in his race against former Sen. George Allen, R-Va., in the race for Virginia’s vacant Senate seat; Supporting Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., in her bid for re-election against former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.; And, supporting Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, in her bid to capture the state’s 3rd congressional district. The confidential NMDC document was signed by several known radical Islamists such as Asbahi, CAIR’s Basim Elkarra; Jihad Saleh Williams of Islamic Relief USA; and Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York.
Mazen Asbahi officially resigned from the Obama campaign following inquiries from the Wall Street Journal about his ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood that were first reported by the GMBDW. Subsequent posts discussed Asbahi’s leadership position in multiple organizations tied to the U.S. Brotherhood as well as the response of the U.S. Brotherhood and it’s supporters to his resignation who claimed that Asbahi was “hounded out of office by extremist right-wing bloggers.” According to a press release, the luncheon at which Asbahi appeared was held with “with the full cooperation and blessing of the Democratic National Committee.” A post from August 2008 reported that Asbahi was still working as part of the Obama campaign and made an appearance at an American Muslim Democratic Caucus luncheon. The Caucus was described at that time as:
..an accredited caucus of the Democratic Party [comprised of]a group of grass root activists from all over the nation that are working hard to be active members of the National Democratic Party, by holding voter registrations and political empowerment trainings to help American Muslims participate in the political process to serve the country.
One of the individuals whose name appeared on the caucus announcement was Sarwat Husain using a phone number in San Antonio, Texas. An individual listed by that name was identified as the founding president of the San Antonio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a national board member of CAIR, a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. She is also listed as a member of the Texas Muslim Political Taskforce and currently serving as president of the Texas Muslim Democratic Caucus as well as being a precinct chair for 2008 – 2010 and a delegate to the Texas Democratic Convention.
Documents released in the Holy Land Trial have revealed that the founders and current leaders of CAIR were part of the Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as identifying the organization itself as being part of the US. Brotherhood. A recent post discussed an interview with the Deputy leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in which he confirms a relationship between his organization and CAIR. Investigative research posted on GMBDW had determined that CAIR had it origins in the U.S. Hamas infrastructure and CAIR and its leaders have a long history of defending almost all individuals accused of terrorism by the US. government, frequently calling such prosecutions a “war on Islam.” In 2009, a US federal judge ruled “The Government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA and NAIT with HLF, the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), and with Hamas.”
For the ties of Islamic Relief to the Global Muslim Brotherhood, go here.