by MEF
"DHS not only failed to produce the documents, it failed even to conduct a search and closed our case without bothering to tell us. This is not just unacceptable but illegal."
In July 2016 then-DHS Secretary Jeh C. Johnson assured lawmakers that CVE grant applicants would be carefully vetted.
|
Philadelphia – May 1, 2017
– The Middle East Forum has filed a lawsuit against the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) to secure the release of documents related to
the Obama administration's Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) grant
program.
The
grant program, which began last year, is intended to assist "efforts at
the community level to counter violent extremist recruitment and
radicalization to violence," but MEF was concerned about U.S. Islamist
groups – themselves radicals – receiving CVE funds. Indeed, grant recipients have included the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), an organization with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and a long history of sanitizing Islamist terrorism.
On January 10,
MEF filed a detailed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with DHS
seeking documents about the selection criteria and specific decisions
in awarding CVE grants. The request indicated that the documents are
mostly located at the DHS Office for Community Partnerships (OCP),
headed by George Selim.
Having
failed to receive even a response to its request within the 20-day
period mandated by law, MEF contacted DHS. Finally, on March 23,
DHS FOIA officer Ebony Livingston informed us that the request had been
routed to the Federal Emergency Management System (FEMA), which found
no pertinent records.
On
April 26, MEF filed a lawsuit alleging that DHS violated the law by not
only failing to produce the documents, but failing even to conduct a
search for the documents.
The complaint,
prepared by attorney Matt Hardin, a specialist in FOIA litigation,
seeks injunctive relief compelling DHS "to search for and produce all
records in its possession responsive to plaintiff's FOIA request."
"We
filed a detailed FOIA request, specifying the documents we were looking
for and where they likely were," said MEF Director Gregg Roman. "DHS
not only failed to produce the documents, it failed even to conduct a
search and closed our case without bothering to tell us. This is not
just unacceptable but illegal."
The
case has been assigned to Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the United States
District Court for the District of Columbia. It bears noting that Judge
Lamberth previously handled FOIA litigation concerning former Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton's emails.
"The CVE program should be canceled altogether," said Sam Westrop, director of MEF's Islamist Watch
project. "And guidelines should be put in place to make sure that
extremist groups like MPAC never receive taxpayer money to counter
extremism."
The Middle East Forum,
a Philadelphia-based think tank, is dedicated to defining American
interests in the Middle East and protecting America from Islamist
threats. It achieves its goals through intellectual, activist, and
philanthropic efforts.
For more information, contact:
Laura Frank
(215)546-5406 ex.110
Frank@MEForum.org
Laura Frank
(215)546-5406 ex.110
Frank@MEForum.org
MEF
Source: http://www.meforum.org/6666/mef-sues-dhs-for-hiding-info-on-its-funding-islamists
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Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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