Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, has threatened to subpoena a pro-Palestinian group if it does not produce requested documents and communications regarding the funding of pro-Hamas propaganda and encampments across the U.S.
It is part of Comer's broader investigation into groups reported to be funding and organizing "illegal actions," including at college campuses, by individuals spreading pro-Hamas propaganda and engaging in antisemitic harassment and civil rights violations against Jewish students.
In a letter Monday to Dr. Osama Abuirshaid, executive director of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Comer wrote there is substantial evidence that connects his group to the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), which claims to support more than 200 Palestinian solidarity organizations in the U.S. and Canada. NSJP and its affiliates were reportedly behind several anti-Israel tent encampments that sprung up on college campuses this spring. Comer's letter is a follow-up to one he wrote to NJSP and Abuirshaid on May 29.
"This oversight is critical to inform legislation to ensure that federal agencies are able to adequately prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to determine whether statutory reporting requirements on financial institutions related to money laundering and terrorist financing need to be updated by Congress," Comer wrote Monday.
A group of U.S. and Israeli citizens who survived the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist attack Oct. 7 in southern Israel filed a federal lawsuit in May in the Eastern District of Virginia against AMP and NSJP, alleging the groups "knowingly provided substantial assistance to Hamas and thus aided and abetted Hamas in committing, planning, or authorizing acts of international terrorism."
"Instead of working to accommodate my requests or producing any responsive documents to the Committee, your counsel has indicated that AMP will not accept my May 29 letter addressed to 'National Students for Justice in Palestine, c/o Dr. Osama Abuirshaid, Executive Director, American Muslims for Palestine.'" Comer wrote. "Perhaps you believe this is a necessary course of action because such an admission could negatively impact AMP's legal strategy in responding to a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia.
"To avoid any further delay and alleviate any confusion on your part, please be advised that I am writing to you directly as the Executive Director of AMP and request yours and AMP's prompt and voluntary compliance with the document requests."
Comer requested specific documents, including those related to NJSP's funding and related to Hamas' terrorist attack, be delivered to his committee by July 8.
"If AMP continues to fail to produce the requested documents, I will consider other measures, including the use of compulsory process, to gain compliance and obtain this material," Comer wrote. "The Committee will continue to vigorously pursue information relevant to its oversight in this matter. Any knowing and willful false statements or representations made to the Committee in conjunction with this or any other investigation conducted pursuant to the authority of this Committee could constitute criminal acts and will not be tolerated."
In an email to Newsmax, Christina Jump, the lead attorney for AMP, wrote, "we responded on June 13 with substantive answers" to Comer's initial request for documents, and did so again Monday. Her email contained copies of letters she wrote to Comer.
"Bottom line: AMP just doesn’t have the documents the Committee wants, plain and simple," Jump wrote, "because AMP does not control [or manage or direct] NSJP. So, AMP doesn't have NSJP's records.
"AMP isn’t withholding any records from the Committee; AMP just isn’t the source of [or custodian of] what the Committee wants."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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