Capitalist
Jeffersonian Liberal
- May 22, 2010
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Today the Obama Administration admitted that Abudayyeh was invited to the White House in April for a press briefing to Arab-American leaders.
Josh Gerstein at the Politico reported:
An Arab-American activist who attended an outreach session at the White House complex in April had his Chicago home raided by the FBI last week and appears to be a focus of an unfolding federal terrorism-support investigation.
Hatem Abudayyeh, who serves as executive director of the Arab-American Action Network, took part in a meeting for Arab-American leaders held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 22, according to appointment data posted on the White House website.
He attended a briefing held by the Office of Public Engagement on April 22, 2010, to update members of the Arab-American community on issues of their concern, White House spokesman Shin Inouye said.
The guest list for the event was drafted by the Arab-American Institute. Inouye said President Barack Obama did not take part in the session, which appears to have involved more than 80 people
The warrant and subpoena suggest the probe, which is being run by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago, is focusing on illegal support for terrorist organizations, particularly by a Minnesota-based group called the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. PFLP, FARC and Hezbollah are designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government. A spokesman for Fitzgeralds office declined to comment on the probe.
Abudayyeh has not been charged with any crime, nor do the court documents made public by targets of the searches make any explicit allegation of ties between the Chicago activist and any of the groups.
The White House briefing Abudayyeh attended was organized by the Arab-American Institute in connection with its annual dinner and related events, AAI President James Zogby said Friday.
Each year we do a leadership summit of our institute leadership also of leadership from the Arab-American network. That is a network of Arab American community and social service organizations and the group in Chicago is one of the network members and so they were invited, Zogby said. We did, as part of the weekend, a White House briefing and Hatem was included as part of the network.
Zogby said the national network Abudayyehs group is part of works on domestic issues, such as immigration reform and civil liberties. I know Hatem is active on those issues in Chicago. Hes very much a part of immigration reform coalitions there. That that would have been the purpose of the networks inclusion in this meeting, Zogby said
A lawyer for Abudayyeh, Jim Fennerty, said he was not aware of his clients White House visit. Asked if the investigation into Abudayyeh was underway at the time of his White House visit in April, Finnerty said, We only became aware of [the probe] when people got their houses raided and search warrants carried out ..I think the grand jury started sitting a year ago though. The lawyer said the investigation may extend back to protests held in connection with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.
Fennerty said he believed his client was being targeted because of his anti-war activism. On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the attorney said Abudayyeh supports a single, secular democratic state, not the two-state solution endorsed by the U.S.
Josh Gerstein at the Politico reported:
An Arab-American activist who attended an outreach session at the White House complex in April had his Chicago home raided by the FBI last week and appears to be a focus of an unfolding federal terrorism-support investigation.
Hatem Abudayyeh, who serves as executive director of the Arab-American Action Network, took part in a meeting for Arab-American leaders held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 22, according to appointment data posted on the White House website.
He attended a briefing held by the Office of Public Engagement on April 22, 2010, to update members of the Arab-American community on issues of their concern, White House spokesman Shin Inouye said.
The guest list for the event was drafted by the Arab-American Institute. Inouye said President Barack Obama did not take part in the session, which appears to have involved more than 80 people
The warrant and subpoena suggest the probe, which is being run by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago, is focusing on illegal support for terrorist organizations, particularly by a Minnesota-based group called the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. PFLP, FARC and Hezbollah are designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government. A spokesman for Fitzgeralds office declined to comment on the probe.
Abudayyeh has not been charged with any crime, nor do the court documents made public by targets of the searches make any explicit allegation of ties between the Chicago activist and any of the groups.
The White House briefing Abudayyeh attended was organized by the Arab-American Institute in connection with its annual dinner and related events, AAI President James Zogby said Friday.
Each year we do a leadership summit of our institute leadership also of leadership from the Arab-American network. That is a network of Arab American community and social service organizations and the group in Chicago is one of the network members and so they were invited, Zogby said. We did, as part of the weekend, a White House briefing and Hatem was included as part of the network.
Zogby said the national network Abudayyehs group is part of works on domestic issues, such as immigration reform and civil liberties. I know Hatem is active on those issues in Chicago. Hes very much a part of immigration reform coalitions there. That that would have been the purpose of the networks inclusion in this meeting, Zogby said
A lawyer for Abudayyeh, Jim Fennerty, said he was not aware of his clients White House visit. Asked if the investigation into Abudayyeh was underway at the time of his White House visit in April, Finnerty said, We only became aware of [the probe] when people got their houses raided and search warrants carried out ..I think the grand jury started sitting a year ago though. The lawyer said the investigation may extend back to protests held in connection with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.
Fennerty said he believed his client was being targeted because of his anti-war activism. On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the attorney said Abudayyeh supports a single, secular democratic state, not the two-state solution endorsed by the U.S.
