Advocating with Intelligence
Misinformation, extreme bias, and hate-motivated incidents continue to pose a serious threat in California—reflecting persistent national trends and underscoring the urgent need for a coordinated, evidence-based response.
Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) nonprofit dedicated to countering extremism and advancing transparency and lawful governance in the use of public funds and political influence.
As a watchdog and research organization, IAN equips communities with the tools, resources, and strategic support needed to drive effective advocacy. By fostering collaboration across diverse constituencies, IAN strengthens civic engagement, expands reach, and delivers solutions rooted in shared values.
Together, we can build a more informed, resilient, and safer California.
IAN and NCRI Partner to Expose CAIR Action and CAIR-CA
Inside CAIR Action: A National 501(c)(4) Operating Outside the Law
Bottom Line Up Front:
- CAIR Action is a 501(c)(4) political organization that is operating a national political-solicitation and voter-mobilization enterprise without the licenses, registrations, or legal authority required in any of the 22 states where it raises money or conducts political activity.
- The organization does not hold even the basic business license required to lawfully operate in Washington, D.C., where it is incorporated and from which it directs its nationwide 501(c)(4) operations.
- As a 501(c)(4), CAIR Action is permitted to engage in political activity but only if it complies with state and federal solicitation, registration, and reporting laws, which it is currently evading across the entire country.
Read the full report here.
CAIR-CA: Evidence of Federal Fraud, Undisclosed Lobbying, Grant Mismanagement, and Oversight Failure
Executive Summary
Evidence compiled jointly by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN) indicates that the Council on American-Islamic Relations, California (CAIR-CA) – the largest and most financially significant branch of the national CAIR network – has systematically misused millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded grants since 2022. Drawing on disclosures under the Public Records Act, financial audits, and formal federal and state complaints—combined with advanced data analytics and risk assessments—this investigation provides the most comprehensive accounting to date of how public resources have been diverted to advance CAIR-CA’s ideological and operational agenda.
Read the full report here.
IAN Urges CA AG to Investigate SFSU’s AMED Studies Program
To California Attorney General, Rob Bonta:
We respectfully submit this formal complaint requesting an investigation into the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies (AMED) program at San Francisco State University (SFSU) for the misuse of state resources, promotion of individuals and groups affiliated with U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), and broader institutional failures of oversight.
A recent report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI): Foreign Terror Pipelines in the Academy, reveals that under the direction of Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, AMED has used university resources to platform networks linked to FTOs including Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Read the full complaint here.
Photo: Posted by AMED Studies’ official Facebook page on October 11, 2023, in honor of #IndigenousPeoplesDay. The image depicts Hamas terrorists breaching the Gaza-Israel border fence on October 7, 2023 — just hours before they brutally murdered 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped approximately 250.
The Arabic text "#غزة_تنتصر" translates to "#Gaza_Wins" or "#Gaza_Victorious."
IAN In the Media
December 9, 2025 / Jerusalem Post
By Mathilda Heller
The political arm of the Council of American-Islamic Relations has been acting without legal authority, licenses, or registration in 22 American states, according to a joint report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN), first published in The Washington Free Beacon.
Continue reading here.
Mathilda Heller is the Diaspora correspondent at The Jerusalem Post.
December 8, 2025 / Washington Free Beacon
By Adam Kredo
The Council of American-Islamic Relations's (CAIR) political advocacy arm, CAIR Action, is operating "without the licenses, registrations, or legal authority required in any of the 22 states where it raises money or conducts political activity," an investigation shared with the Washington Free Beacon states. According to a watchdog group, CAIR's nationwide political machine has systematically evaded state and federal regulators in what may amount to an illicit fundraising scheme.
Continue reading here.
Adam Kredo is senior writer reporting on national security and foreign policy matters for the Washington Free Beacon.
Novemeber 18, 2025 / New York Post
By Isabel Vincent
CAIR-CA is under probe by the Department of Justice, according to IAN, and the California Fair Political Practices Commission over alleged financial misrepresentation of federal funds.
In one instance, the charity took $7.2 million in taxpayer cash intended to settle impoverished immigrants in California between 2022 and 2024.
The cash, which was intended to assist 1,800 Afghan refugees, only helped 177 Afghan refugees from 2021 to 2023, less than 10% percent of the total it was meant to serve, according to the report.
Continue reading here.
Isabel Vincent is a senior reporter at the New York Post.
July 7, 2025 / Daily Caller News Foundation
By Hudson Crozier
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating whether a Muslim advocacy organization it previously linked to Hamas should maintain eligibility to receive taxpayer funds, according to emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review said June 30 that it was currently probing a complaint accusing the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of irregularities in its financial reporting and support for terrorism.
Continue reading here.
Hudson Crozier is a Crime and Extremism Reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
July 1, 2025 / Voice of San Francisco
By Susan George
A recent report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) — Foreign Terror Pipelines in the Academy — details how AMED’s director, Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, has used public resources to promote individuals and networks linked to FTOs, including Hamas, PFLP, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
In response, on June 13, 2025, my organization, the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN), filed a formal complaint with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, urging an investigation into AMED’s activities and SFSU’s apparent failure of oversight.
Continue reading here.
Susan George is the CEO of Intelligent Advocacy Network.
By Susan George
In October 2024, a group of educators
gathered in Tucson for a three-day institute titled Teaching Land Back! From Turtle Island to Palestine, co-hosted by the Teach Palestine Project of the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) and the Xicanx Institute for Teaching and Organizing (XITO). As the promotional materials put it:
Continue reading here.
Susan George is the CEO of Intelligent Advocacy Network.
By Susan George
Every year, thousands of asylum seekers arrive in the United States, often fleeing war, persecution and violence — only to face a legal system they cannot navigate. To address this, the Department of Justice created an accreditation program that allows nonprofits to provide legal services through the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
These organizations often serve as the only legal lifeline for vulnerable immigrants.
But what if those charged with defending the vulnerable are abusing that responsibility? That is what is happening with the Council on American-Islamic Relations-California, which has potentially misused taxpayer dollars and is led by people who publicly cheer on Hamas.
Continue reading here.
Susan George is the CEO of Intelligent Advocacy Network.
March 22, 2025 / News Observer
By John Baker
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has faced scrutiny for receiving over $7 million in taxpayer money intended for humanitarian efforts in California. The Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN) filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, calling for an investigation into the CAIR California chapter’s management of these funds. The complaint alleges that the Greater Los Angeles chapter improperly received the funds.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) stated, “CAIR’s leadership has a long history of spewing vile antisemitism and anti-Zionist rhetoric, including openly praising the Hamas terrorists that brutally attacked Israel, murdering, raping, and kidnapping more than 1,200 people on October 7 [2023].”
Continue reading here.
John Baker covers U.S. politics & news for content partner Modern Newsstand LLC.
March 17, 2025 / San Diego Jewish World
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – A San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN), has filed a letter of objection with the U.S. Department of Justice challenging the Council of American Islamic Relations-California as an agency qualified to help Afghan refugees to settle in the United States.
IAN CEO Susan George of San Francisco and Board Member Julie Marzouk of Irvine signed a 10-page single-spaced typed complaint on Thursday, March 13, requesting that the DOJ conduct a forensic audit to determine how CAIR-California accounted for millions of dollars in public funds it previously administered in the program.
Before DOJ recertifies CAIR-California as an administrator for the refugee program, it should also determine whether CAIR’S outspoken verbal support of Hamas is in the public interest, Marzouk told San Diego Jewish World.
Continue reading here.
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.
March 14, 2025 / New York Post
By Isabel Vincent
A Muslim charity with links to Hamas was awarded more than $7.2 million in taxpayer cash, which has now disappeared, according to a watchdog group.
An “immediate investigation” needs to be launched into The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) California chapter’s use of funds, according to the watchdog, who sent a complaint to the Department of Justice Thursday.
According to the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN), a California-based, non-partisan advocacy group, the money was given to the chapter to help re-settle impoverished immigrants in California between 2022 and 2024.
In what appears to be a sleight of hand, the money – $7,217,968.44 — was sent to CAIR-Greater Los Angeles and not to CAIR-CA, which was the only group eligible to receive it, according to the complaint.
Continue reading here.
Isabel Vincent is a senior reporter at the New York Post.
December 16, 2024 / New York Post
By Susan George
A bill that would choke off funding for terror-supporting nonprofits has stalled in Congress — amid the lies of its potential targets.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, HR 9495, passed the House last month.
Critics have labeled the legislation a “nonprofit killer,” intentionally misleading both the public and lawmakers about its specifics in an effort to derail it.
Continue reading here.
Susan George is the CEO of Intelligent Advocacy Network.