A report from the Justice Department, reviewed by Fox News Digital, reveals that the FBI has been cautious in its interactions with CAIR for over a decade. This caution stems from concerns about the group’s alleged connections to Hamas, a group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

The Office of Inspector General’s 2013 report indicates that in 2008, the FBI implemented a nationwide policy to limit official contact with CAIR. This policy came after evidence from a significant terrorism-financing trial linked leaders of CAIR to Hamas, prompting repeated reminders to FBI field offices to adhere to this restriction.

These findings have resurfaced at a time when Gov. Greg Abbott has labeled CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist groups. This action coincides with renewed calls from lawmakers for federal measures against Islamist networks believed to be operating within the United States.

The OIG report details a series of internal communications from FBI headquarters between August and December 2008. These communications instructed field offices to cease non-investigative interactions with CAIR unless given clearance from Washington. The directive was partly based on evidence from the Holy Land Foundation trial, which suggested links between CAIR’s leadership and a Hamas support network.

The FBI’s cautionary stance towards CAIR, as urged by the OIG report, predates Gov. Abbott’s recent designation of the group as a terrorist organization. (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.