”...Now the fight has been joined on Khan’s side by the Richardson, Texas-based Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America (CLCMA), which last month filed an Amicus brief arguing for Judge Hughes’ lower 18-month sentence.
As an aside, it’s worth noting that CLCMA is a project of, and funded by, the Muslim Legal Fund of America, which formed to defend the Hamas-supporting Holy Land Foundation right after the government closed it on suspicions of financing Hamas. The Holy Land Foundation’s five principals were convicted 10 years ago anyway for running the largest terrorism-fundraising operation in U.S. history, funneling at least $12 million straight to Hamas. MLFA kept its expensive exoneration efforts alive for years of appeals after the 2008 convictions right up until the U.S. Supreme Court decided to let the convictions stand on strong evidence, even seeking presidential commutations for the men in 2012. The Muslim Legal Fund of America has been criticized for its singular-minded interest in defending Hamas convicts and other brands of terrorists.
Kyle Shideler, Director of Counter Islamist Grid, an organization that identifies and researches domestic Islamist groups in local U.S. communities, said he had a hard time seeing these legal defense entities as authentic “friends of the court” because of what they’re really probably after.
“Like MLFA, the CLCMA seems to be more interested in making sure Islamists are free to continue to provide funding to suspicious groups abroad than they are actually protecting constitutional rights,” Shideler said.”
