The FBI’s New Haven, Conn. field office organized a community outreach program last October that featured two speakers from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in apparent violation of FBI policy not to partner with the Islamist group.

Records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that field office officials repeatedly referred to the policy in the months leading up to the event, called “Bridging the Gap between Law Enforcement and the Connecticut Muslim Community.” To avoid openly violating the ban, the records show, officials drew semantic distinctions and seem to have tried to conceal the field office’s role in organizing and developing the event.

These internal documents show officials in the New Haven FBI field office clearly developed, facilitated, co-sponsored and co-hosted the October 2010 conference with the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, and did so with full knowledge and tacit approval of participation by CAIR-CT. To avoid violating FBI policy, the agents and field office managers involved ensured the FBI was not formally named as a sponsor, and sought to “dis-associate” it from an event that likely would not have happened without their efforts.

In addition an FBI agent in the field office criticized the policy toward CAIR in an email exchange with a local Muslim leader. Most of the names of people involved were redacted in the FOIA documents.

The training program was coordinated with the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut (MCCT) and included sessions on “Islamophobia,” misconceptions about Islam and immigration issues. CAIR is listed on the MCCT website as a linked organization. And MCCT President Rabia Chaudry also was a CAIR spokesperson.

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http://www.investigativeproject.org/3247/the-fbi-cair-and-subterfuge-in-connecticut