Government & Politics

White House eyeing a scaled-down Ramadan reception this year Anger over the war in Gaza is clouding the traditional Eid al-Fitr celebration.

(Politico) The White House is considering a scaled-down version of its traditional ceremony marking the end of Ramadan next month, after Muslim leaders warned aides that people would decline invitations in objection to the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Typically, the […]

Government & Politics

Appeals court revives suit over Trump ‘Muslim ban’ documents D.C. Circuit ruling could open more draft documents to public disclosure

(Politico) A federal appeals court has overturned a lower-court decision that allowed the Department of Justice to withhold emails related to former President Donald Trump’s 2017 travel ban that largely targeted Muslim-majority nations. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the […]

Interfaith

Islamist who defended murderers of Jews to speak at Tree of Life anti-hate summit Bush, ADL, Biden cabinet member join with hater to fight hate.

(FrontPage) In October, former President George W. Bush, Biden’s DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, ADL boss Jonathan Greenblatt, and other notables will descend on the massive Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. The occasion isn’t a party convention, but the inaugural Eradicate Hate […]

Legal

Second Circuit orders tougher sentence for Islamic State supporter A three-judge panel agreed with federal prosecutors that Sinmyah Amera Ceasar’s two-year sentence for supporting the Islamic State terrorist group was too lenient.

(Courthouse News) A federal appeals court vacated the sentence of an Islamic State supporter on Wednesday after federal prosecutors argued she got off too easy. Sinmyah Amera Ceasar, a U.S. citizen also known by her online nom de guerre Umm Nutella — […]

Law Enforcement

Lebanese sleeper agent loses challenge to 40-year sentence The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld the terrorism conviction of man who claimed FBI agents had tricked him into incriminating himself while proffering evidence as a cooperator.

(Courthouse News) A Hezbollah-trained sleeper agent who scouted New York City buildings for possible targets of terrorism failed to secure a reversal of his 40-year prison sentence Tuesday. At oral arguments back in April, attorneys for Lebanon-born Ali Kourani [said he] only […]

Law Enforcement

Hezbollah sleeper agent looks to beat 40-year sentence Ali Kourani said the FBI tricked him into incriminating himself, landing him a sentence nearly three times longer than those handed down for more serious terrorism charges.

(Courthouse News) A Lebanese man who told the FBI he planned to become a suicide bomber for the terrorist group Hezbollah fought to overturn his 40-year sentence at the Second Circuit on Tuesday, saying agents led him to believe the information he […]

Demographics

CAIR touts partnership with Census Bureau

(IPT) Federal law enforcement knows enough about the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to order its agents not to engage with the group outside of criminal investigations. But despite that, the U.S. Census Bureau believes the conservative, Sunni-dominated Islamist organization is a […]