According to a Justice Department report reviewed by Fox News Digital, the FBI has been cautious in its dealings with CAIR for over ten years due to concerns about the group’s connections to Hamas. This caution comes in light of evidence linking CAIR leaders to Hamas, a group recognized by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.

A 2013 report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) reveals that in 2008, the FBI issued nationwide restrictions on official interactions with CAIR. Field offices were repeatedly reminded to adhere to these restrictions after a significant terrorism-financing case provided evidence of CAIR’s connections to Hamas.

These findings have gained renewed attention following Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s recent designation of CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist entities. Meanwhile, there is an increasing call among lawmakers for federal measures to address Islamist networks operating within the United States.

The OIG report indicates that between August and December 2008, the FBI headquarters sent out a series of internal memos instructing all field offices to cease non-investigative interactions with CAIR unless they received explicit clearance from Washington. This directive was partly based on evidence presented during the Holy Land Foundation trial, which linked CAIR’s leadership to a Hamas support network.

The FBI’S OIG report urged agents to avoid CAIR years before Gov. Abbott declared the organization a terrorist group. (Getty Images)

The policy was a “significant deviation” from prior outreach practices, and some offices resisted the shift.

At least one Special Agent-in-Charge pushed back, telling staff his office would set its own CAIR policy unless headquarters provided more detail. Others sought exceptions for long-standing local relationships.

Despite the bureau-wide restrictions, the OIG found several violations between 2010 and 2012. In three of five reviewed incidents, field personnel did not follow the CAIR policy:

Muslims attending a town hall meeting by the Council on American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center on March 17, 2017, in Falls Church, Virginia. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The OIG identified several cases in which field offices violated the bureau-wide CAIR-contact ban. In Chicago, the Special Agent-in-Charge attended an event where a CAIR official spoke — an appearance the group later publicized. In New Haven, agents consulted directly with CAIR and even allowed CAIR officials to teach a cultural workshop, despite explicit warnings from FBI headquarters that such engagement would violate policy. And in Philadelphia, a CAIR representative was brought into an outreach session after staff followed guidance from the Office of Public Affairs rather than the bureau directives that barred that type of contact.

The OIG concluded the FBI “did not conduct effective implementation or oversight” of its own CAIR-contact restrictions.

The internal FBI restrictions — still in effect as of 2013 — take on new significance following Abbott’s decision to classify CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations under Texas law, preventing them from owning property in the state.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is seen on Nov. 14, 2025 in Midlothian, Texas.  (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Abbott said the groups “have long made their goals clear” and accused them of supporting terrorism worldwide.

The OIG findings also align with a sweeping new report from the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) warning of a coordinated, decades-long effort by Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations to infiltrate American institutions.

ISGAP is urging federal lawmakers to follow Texas’ lead.

CAIR has repeatedly rejected any claim of wrongdoing, saying earlier this week it “opposes all forms of terrorism” and accuses critics of relying on “guilt by association.”

The OIG recommended the FBI improve training and enforcement around the CAIR restrictions, and ensure that field offices comply with headquarters’ directives moving forward.

CAIR, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said that it “and the FBI have communicated with each other to address matters such as hate crimes against the American Muslim community, threats to our civil rights organization, and crime prevention.”

The group added that during President Trump’s first term, “it was our CAIR Georgia chapter that repeatedly warned the FBI about a potential threat to President Trump and other Americans. After the FBI later arrested a troubled individual accused of plotting an attack on the White House, senior FBI agents met with and explicitly thanked CAIR for saving lives.”

CAIR said it remains “willing to communicate with the FBI to address public safety matters,” but that the two organizations “do not engage in photo-ops or community events with each other.”

The group noted that it has “been critical of some of the Bureau’s tactics” and “sometimes face[s] off in court,” pointing to its “9-0 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against abuses of the FBI’s watchlist.”

The FBI and ISGAP did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.