The office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded Wednesday to the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ lawsuit claiming that DeSantis violated federal law when he designated CAIR a foreign terrorist organization last week.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” DeSantis’ communications director, Alex Lanfranconi, told The Daily Signal in a statement Wednesday.
The governor designated CAIR, which bills itself as the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country, a foreign terrorist organization alongside the Muslim Brotherhood. President Donald Trump established a process for designating chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood foreign terrorist organizations in November.
DeSantis’ executive order notes that members of the Islamic Association for Palestine, an organization affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and created to support Hamas in the U.S., founded CAIR in 1994.
It notes that CAIR was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing case in 2009 and claims that CAIR associates “have been convicted of providing, and conspiring to provide, material support to designated terrorist organizations.” Convictions trace back to the 2009 Holy Land Foundation case.
The executive order directs Florida law enforcement to engage in “all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities in Florida by the terrorist organizations,” and directs cabinet agencies to also act against them.
DeSantis’ order followed a similar order from Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas.
CAIR’s Lawsuit
CAIR sued to block the executive order Monday, arguing that DeSantis illegally usurped the federal government’s authority to designate U.S. organizations as terrorist groups; that he violated the Constitution’s due process clause by unilaterally designating CAIR a criminal actor and then order punitive action against it without a chance to appeal; and that he violated the First Amendment by engaging in retaliation against CAIR for its activism “in support of Palestinian human rights.”
“No politician has the right to shred the Constitution or upend our entire legal system by unilaterally declaring an American organization he dislikes a criminal actor and then ordering punishments for that group and its supporters, all without any due process and any legal authority,” CAIR Litigation Director Lena Masri said in a statement on the lawsuit.
The CAIR Legal Defense Fund, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Akeel & Valentine will represent CAIR legally in the case.
Last week, CAIR filed a public records request seeking DeSantis’ communications with Israeli officials and “anti-Muslim hate groups.”
“Ron DeSantis has a long history of close collaboration with anti-Muslim hate groups and Israeli government officials who have spent years trying to silence American Muslims who support Palestinian human rights,” CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said in a statement. “The people of Florida and the broader public have a right to know whether Governor DeSantis collaborated with a foreign government or hate groups to launch his unconstitutional and defamatory attack on CAIR-Florida and the broader Florida Muslim community.â€
In response to Abbott’s designation, CAIR said, “We have consistently condemned all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism. In fact, we condemn terrorism so often that ISIS once put a target on our national executive director.â€
‘Dispelling Rumors’
CAIR has long disputed claims of the kind Abbott and DeSantis cited. The organization updates a web page dedicated to dispelling “rumors†and “conspiracy theories.â€
CAIR admits that it was included on a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation case, but notes that there were more than 300 other organizations on the list.
“There is no legal implication to being labeled an unindicted co-conspirator, since it does not require the Justice Department to prove anything in a court of law,†the organization notes. “Regardless, the issue of our inclusion on the list was settled in CAIR’s favor.†The judge in the case stated, “This case is not about CAIR.â€
The Biden administration distanced itself from CAIR after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. The Biden White House had previously included CAIR in its initiative to combat antisemitism.
CAIR’s claim about DeSantis working with “anti-Muslim hate groups” relies on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s accusations. Critics have long claimed that the SPLC falsely brands mainstream conservative and Christian groups “hate groups,” partly because they disagree with the SPLC’s own agenda. Organizations like the Center for Security Policy and the David Horowitz Freedom Center vehemently contest the accusation. CAIR has attacked Jewish groups as “anti-Muslim.”
DeSantis’ Response
When CAIR threatened a lawsuit shortly after DeSantis’ designation, the governor responded that he looked forward to accessing CAIR’s internal records in the discovery process.
“I look forward to discovery—especially the CAIR finances,” the governor posted on X. “Should be illuminating!”
Before any lawsuit proceeds to the discovery process—through which the two parties may legally compel each other to hand over relevant internal documents—it must survive any motion to dismiss. In this case, the Florida government would be expected to file a motion to dismiss the case, and only if a judge rejects that motion would the case proceed to discovery.
DeSantis’ office did not clarify for The Daily Signal whether the governor’s comment implied he would not file a motion to dismiss the case. The White House did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by publication time.
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