New research: $2 million in federal grants went to domestic Islamist groups

Of 60 federal grants, worth $15 million, given to Muslim organizations in 2022, $2 million went to groups “controlled by Islamists or involved in Islamist networks.” That’s according to a May 3 article by Sam Westrop in Focus on Western Islamism.

“While these figures have concerned counter-extremism analysts and reformist Muslims, historical data compiled by FWI reveals that this is in fact the lowest level of funding provided to Islamist groups since 2014, and an abrupt contrast to the record high of over $16 million given to Islamist groups under President [Donald] Trump in 2018,” he wrote.

The research was created by cross-referencing 10,000 names against federal data from USASpending.gov. The groups in question included the Al-Furqaan Foundation ($247,000), the Rahmat-e-Alam Foundation ($148,000), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Relief ($150,000), the Islamic Organization of North America ($450,000) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Oklahoma branch ($250,000).

“The bad news: [U.S. President Joe] Biden sent $2 million of taxpayer money to U.S. Islamist groups in 2022. The good news: That’s way down from the $16 million Trump sent them in 2018,” ” target="_blank” rel="noopener">tweeted Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum. “Yes, Trump sent more money to them than any other U.S. president. Puzzling but true.”