ZERO HOPE + ZERO CHANGE = PRESIDENT ZERO Barack Hussein Obama proving once and for all that any man, regardless of skin color, is as incompetent and devious as the next
Monday, November 15, 2010
Holder honors Holy Land Foundation prosecutors Investigator who called CAIR 'front group for Hamas' also awarded
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
U.S. Attorney James Jacks
Attorney General Eric Holder has awarded the Justice Department's second-highest honor to the team of prosecutors and investigators that put away the Holy Land Foundation terrorist front group and its leaders.
The Dallas-based team received the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service during a Justice Department awards ceremony in Washington D.C. last month.
Holy Land and five of its founders were convicted in 2008 of funneling more than $12 million raised in the U.S. to Hamas, a federally designated terrorist organization. The top two leaders of the defunct charity each received 65-year prison sentences.
The case, which resulted in convictions on all 108 felony counts, is considered the largest terrorism financing investigation in U.S. history.
While billed as the largest Muslim charity in the U.S., Holy Land "was actually the U.S.-based fund-raising arm of the terrorist group Hamas," the Justice Department said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations was an outspoken critic of the government's prosecution of the Holy Land defendants. The Washington-based Muslim group argued that prosecutors were trying to railroad an innocent charity.
"The team demonstrated unparalleled dedication and teamwork for more than eight years," the department said in a press release. "The team's ability resulted in the unraveling of an international conspiracy and one of the most successful terrorism financing prosecutions in the department's history."
Holder presented the award to lead U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks, among several others, at the 58th Annual Attorney General Awards Ceremony.
"They have safeguarded our homeland," Holder said in a speech.
Jacks listed CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in the criminal scheme to finance terrorism inside America.
"CAIR has been identified by the government at trial as a participant in an ongoing and ultimately unlawful conspiracy to support a designated terrorist organization, a conspiracy from which CAIR never withdrew," Jacks said in court documents.
The U.S. District Court in Dallas, where Holy Land was based, found "ample evidence" linking CAIR to the conspiracy and is expected to unseal the dossier in coming weeks.
Holder also recognized FBI Special Agents Lara L. Burns, who investigated Holy Land out of the bureau's Dallas field office. Burns testified at trial that CAIR is a "front group for Hamas."
Evidence uncovered in the Holy Land case prompted the FBI to sever ties with CAIR until it can demonstrate it is not a terrorist front group.
"Until we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and Hamas, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner," advised assistant FBI Director Richard Powers in a 2009 letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The service award is the Justice Department's second-highest award for employee performance.
Other members of the Holy Land prosecution team who received the award included: Nathan Garrett, Former Assistant U.S. Attorney; from the National Security Division (NSD) Counterterrorism Section, Barry Jonas, trial attorney; and Laura B. Shuey, paralegal specialist; from the NSD Office of Intelligence, Julie L. Hamilton, former attorney-adviser; and Heidi P. Bauer, attorney-adviser; from the Civil Division Federal Programs Branch, Elizabeth J. Shapiro, deputy branch director; from the FBI's Dallas Field Office, James S. Lewis, supervisory special agent; Robert Miranda, Carrie C. Ward, and David Kamel; and Atef A. Shafik, language specialist; from the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, Anne E. Armstrong, financial analyst; and from the DOD Department of the Army, Task Force Officer Eric Michael Wood.
"It is my pleasure to congratulate this year's Attorney General Award winners and to recognize their extraordinary contributions," Holder said. "Not only is their service to our nation inspiring, it is strengthening the work of the Justice Department at every level and making a powerful difference for people across our country, and far beyond. This year's awardees exemplify the Department's finest traditions, and I am privileged, and grateful, to count them as colleagues."
Holder added: "Each of this year's award recipients should take great pride in the fact that their efforts have made a positive and lasting impact on the citizens we serve and will leave an enduring imprint on the Department¹s work for years to come."
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