Here is the Executive Order, it was included into the lawsuit as an exhibit.
Because the alleged (and much-celebrated) temporary restraining orders that were allegedly previously filed regarding the same executive order in federal courts in New York, Virginia and Massachusetts on the official federal court register Pacer.gov, which raises issues about existence, contents and legitimacy of those alleged orders - I immediately went to Pacer.gov to check out whether this new alleged lawsuit can be seen there.
CAIR has been called an unindicted conspirator in a federal criminal court case United States v Holy Land Foundation et al, Case No.: 3:04-cr-240-P in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and also in a letter of President Bill Clinton's U.S. Attorney General's office to the U.S. House Representative Sue Myrick (years of service in the U.S. House of Representative - January 3, 1995 to January 3, 2013), and the letter, sent obviously with the approval of the then-Democratic President Bill Clinton, pointed out to testimony at trial about connections of CAIR and its founders with HAMAS which
was designated as a terrorist organization by:
- Israel (1989);
- U.S. (1995 - see the letter of the U.S. Attorney General's office below);
- Jordan (1999 - outlawed);
- Canada (2002);
- European Union (2001/2003 - designation overturned by a court, with European Council appealing the decision);
- Japan (2006); and, most recently, by
- Arab Emirates (2014)
- Iran;
- Russia;
- Turkey;
- China;
- Brazil,
- Norway, and
- Switzerland
Here is the letter of U.S. Assistant Attorney General under President Bill Clinton, Ronald Weich, to U.S. House Representative Sue Myrick:
The lawsuit by the Committee on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) against President Trump was reportedly filed yesterday in a federal court in Virginia.
There is a civil rights case against Donald Trump available on Pacer.gov in Virginia that was filed on Monday, January 30, 2017.
Yet, CAIR is not a party in that lawsuit, where all plaintiffs are suing in their individual capacity, and not on behalf of CAIR as an organization, see the caption of the lawsuit that the plaintiffs designated and filed with the court themselves:
CAIR is not even representing plaintiffs in that action, even though that is what the complaint says:
The official docket report, on the opposite, says that the only attorney representing all plaintiffs in that action is a solo attorney by the name of Gadeir Ibrahim Abbas who was reported as a "staff attorney" of CAIR in 2015 in the press, but not listed as such in the docket of this particular case:
Here is the text of the lawsuit that I personally, and at my own expense, obtained from Pacer.gov:
And here is the docket report as of today from that same case.
Here is the list, that I compiled based the self-description in the complaint of 15 Plaintiffs with known names (there are several citizen plaintiffs concealing their names, who will be described in a separate blog) in the "CAIR" lawsuit who are American citizens, who self-identify as American Muslims, who claim that their own 1st Amendment (Establishment Clause) rights were violated because of an executive order of the President affecting non-citizens only, and who want money damages and attorney fees from the American taxpayers for such violation.
Name
of Plaintiffs, all self-identified as “American Muslims”
|
U.S.
Citizen? Yes/No
|
State
and County of residence
|
Self-description
in lawsuit
|
1.
Linda Sarsour
|
Yes
|
New
York, Kings County
|
·
Palestinian activist;
·
Executive Director – Arab American Association of New York;
·
Former spokesperson (2016) of Presidential
Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders;
·
One of three national co-chairs for the 2017 Women’s
March held the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump;
·
Appeared in
“The Hijabi Monologues”;
·
Has her own show “The Linda Sarsour Show”
|
2.
Rashida Tlaib
|
Yes
|
Michigan,
Wayne County
|
·
Former Democratic member of the Michigan House
of Representatives;
·
Attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic
and Social Justice;
·
The 1st Muslim-American woman “to
serve” /sic/ (to have served?) in the Michigan Legislature;
·
The 2nd Muslim woman to be elected
to serve in a state legislature in America
|
3.
Adam Soltani
|
Yes
|
Oklahoma,
Oklahoma County
|
·
Executive Director of Council for American-Islamic
Relations, Oklahoma;
·
A prominent civil rights activist;
·
Chair, Oklahoma Conference of Churches’
Religions United Committee;
·
Planning member, OKC’s Jewish-Muslim Film
Institute;
·
Former member, the Oklahoma Democratic Party Religious
Education Committee;
·
Former board member, the Interfaith Alliance
of Oklahoma;
·
Former member, the Islamic Society of Greater
Oklahoma City Executive Committee
|
4.
Alia Salem
|
Yes
|
Texas,
Dallas County
|
·
Executive Director, Council on
American-Islamic Relations, Dallas/Fort Worth (CAIR-DFW);
·
“Plaintiff Salem’s work o CAIR-DFW has been
featured on local, national and international media outlets”
|
5.
Nihad Awad
|
Yes
|
Washington,
D.C., Washington County
|
·
National Executive Director, Co-Founder of
CAIR
·
In 1997 (under president Bill Clinton), served
on the White House Civil Rights Advisory Panel to the Commission for Safety
and Security;
·
Testified before both Houses of the U.S.
Congress “on matters involving Muslims in America”;
·
In 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Presidential
elections was a “key figure in voting a Muslim voting block”;
·
In 2006, traveled to Iraq on a humanitarian
mission to secure release of journalist Jill Carroll;
·
In September of 2011 (under President Obama)
traveled to Iran as part of “interfaith delegation” to appeal for release of
American hikers held by Iran;
·
In 2004, National Journal allegedly called
Plaintiff Awad one of 100 most influential people in the United States;
·
In 2009, a Georgetown University publication called
Plaintiff Awad one of 500 most influential Muslims in the world;
·
In 2010, “Arabian Business ranked him 39th
in the “Arabian Business Power 100” list, “its annual listing of the most
influential Arabs”.
|
6.
Dawud Walid
|
Yes
|
Michigan,
Wayne County
|
·
Executive Director, CAIR, Michigan (CAIR-MI);
·
Served in the U.S. Navy;
·
Earned 2 U.S. Navy & Marine Corp
Achievement medals while deployed abroad;
·
Received awards of recognition from the city
councils of Detroit and Hamtramck and from the Mayor of Lansing, as well as “a
number of other religious and community organizations”.
|
7.
Basim Elkarra
|
Yes
|
California,
Sacramento County
|
·
Executive Director, CAIR-Sacramento Valley;
·
Former board member, ACLU-Sacramento Chapter;
·
Serves on Executive Board of California
Democratic Party;
·
Serves on the City of Sacramento Community
Police Commission
·
In 2011, under President Obama, “the U.S.
Embassy in London sent Plaintiff Elkarra to England to meet young British
Muslims as part of a strategy to promote civic engagement”
|
8.
Hassan Shibly
|
Yes
|
Florida,
Hillsborough County
|
·
Chief Executive Officer of CAIR-Florida;
·
“Met with President Obama and several
high-ranking government officials regarding Islam and civil rights issues
facing Muslims”;
·
“Serves as a consultant for, among other private entities /sic,
italics added/, law enforcement and other governmental agencies”.
|
9.
Imran Siddiqi
|
Yes
|
Arizona,
Maricopa County
|
·
Executive Director of CAIR-AZ;
·
A writer and prominent civil rights activist;
·
Has written extensively on the subject of
Islamophobia, Middle East Affairs, and issues affecting American Muslims.
|
10. Julia Shearson
|
Yes
|
Ohio,
Cuyahoga County
|
·
Executive Director, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland
Chapter;
·
“Delivered hundreds of lectures and trainings
on Islam and Muslims, civil and human rights, diversity, Islamophobia, and
immigration justice”;
·
Was recently honored with other 22 area women
for her leadership, activism, and community service in an art exhibit
entitled “Reflections: The Many Facets of Stephanie Tubbs Jones” installed at
Cleveland Hopkins Airport in memory of the late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs
Jones;
·
Before joining CAIR-OH, taught in Ohio
University for 10 years, Jewish Vocational Services in Boston and the Summer
School and Division of Continuing Education at Harvard University
|
11. Karen Dabdoub
|
Yes
|
Ohio,
Hamilton County
|
·
Executive Director, CAIR-OH, Cincinnati
Chapter,
·
Has been “a Commissioner with the Cincinnati
Human Relations Commission (CHRC) since 2006”;
·
Was president of CHRC in 2009-2011;
·
A founding member of Muslim Mothers Against
Violence, founded in 2005;
·
A member of Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition
of Cincinnati since 2006;
·
A former member of the FBI Multi-Cultural
Advisory Council;
·
A former member, Kentucky Commission on Human
Rights Community Advisory Committee;
·
Member of “Friends of Open House” – Cincinnati
Chapter, “an international organization that worked to bring about peace and
understanding between Palestinians and Israelis”;
·
Appears in a documentary “A Visit to a Mosque in
America”
|
12. Namira Islam
|
Yes
|
Michigan,
Oakland County
|
·
Co-Founder and Executive Director of the
Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), “a faith-based human rights
education organization which focuses on racial justice”;
·
“Worked in the areas of prisoner rights, and
on international law and war crimes at the United Nations in The Hague,
Netherlands”.
|
13. Hussam Ayloush
|
Yes
|
California,
Riverside County
|
·
Executive Director of CAIR-Los Angeles;
·
Is a 4th-term elected delegate to
the California Democratic Party;
·
Serves on board of the Muslim American Homeland Security
Congress (MAHSC)
|
14. Corey Saylor
|
Yes
|
Virginia,
Fairfax County
|
·
Director, CAIR, Department to Monitor and
Combat Islamophobia;
·
“Ran successful advocacy campaigns against
corporate giants such as Burger King and Bell Helicopter-Boeing when their
actions or advertisements negatively impacted the American Muslim community”
|
15. Zahra Billoo
|
Yes
|
California,
Santa Clara County
|
·
Civil rights attorney,
·
Executive Director, CAIR-San Francisco Bay
Area;
·
Prominent civil rights activist;
·
“Is frequently seen at mosques and
universities facilitating trainings and workshops as part of CAIR’s
grassroots efforts to empower the American Muslim community and build bridges
with allies on civil rights issues”
|
Please, note that this people offer, instead of standing to sue, their credentials, "'service" on various "boards" and "councils", their TV shows, appearances on TV, lectures.
Apparently, service on boards of non-profits is now a substitute of standing in civil actions.
These people, U.S. citizens, under the guise of defending human rights, filed a lawsuit where they have no personal standing, no personal injury, but where they want to nevertheless use the scarce time of a federal court, and to obtain, for themselves, personally, money damages for their non-existent injuries, as well as attorney fees in this frivolous lawsuit paid by the American taxpayers.
To have standing to sue in federal court, plaintiffs have to have:
1) "injury in fact" - an invasion of THEIR OWN legally protected interest which is:
a) concrete and particularized;
b) "actual or imminent",
c) not "conjectural" or "hypothetical;
2) there must be a "causal connection" (violation of right caused the injury of the plaintiff) between the injury and the conduct complained of:
So, what is the standing of American citizens suing President Trump in his official capacity, which means plaintiffs are suing the U.S. and all of its taxpayers, for money damages and attorney fees to be paid to them, individual plaintiffs, by the same U.S. taxpayers who suffer from the justice gap and cannot afford their own attorneys for their own needs?
There is nothing in the complaint that would indicate
1) "injury in fact" - an invasion, by President Trump's Executive Order which says NOTHING about Islam or Muslims, and which is relevant only for non-citizens, of Plaintiffs citizens' own legally protected interests which would be:
a) concrete and particularized;
b) "actual or imminent",
c) not "conjectural" or "hypothetical;
and
2) invasion of such interest in such a way that there is a "causal connection" (violation of right caused the injury of the plaintiff) between the injury and the conduct complained of.
Yet, there is nothing in the complaint about protecting or collecting revenues pursuant to an Act of Congress, or enforcing rights to vote of CITIZENS of the United States - even though U.S. citizen Plaintiffs try to get such money out of a federal court specifically on those grounds, invoking 28 USC 1357.
Why are these citizen plaintiffs doing it?
The ancient reason.
Greed.
Apparently, CAIR, and its executives, could not sleep well because of the sudden fame of ACLU that collected over $24 million dollars in donations based on the hype ACLU flared about their "heroic deeds" in filing lawsuits on behalf of non-citizens
(which lacked standing to sue because they were not admitted yet to the U.S., and there is no constitutional right or privilege existing for a non-citizen to get admitted to the U.S.).
Since CAIR, because of its dubious reputation, could not hope for donations of the level of ACLU, it decided to get money out of a lawsuit, through "damages" and "attorney fees" - by suing AMERICAN TAXPAYERS, using Donald Trump as a red rag to get anything they want, even though their lawsuit is absolutely frivolous.
When President Trump is sued in his official capacity, it is the American taxpayers who are sued.
And, if these frivolous plaintiffs get recovery from the judge, despite total lack of standing - it is the American taxpayers who will have to pay them damages for nonexistent injuries and to pay their attorneys for bringing and prosecuting this frivolous litigation.
So, my dear readers, American taxpayers, do not think CAIR executives are suing Trump.
They are suing YOU.
Have money?