Hamas-Linked CAIR’s Shell Game

By Robert Spencer |

CAIR. Photo: Alparslan Esmer, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.CAIR. Photo: Alparslan Esmer, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.

The Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been named a terrorist organization in Texas and Florida, and this is not just a symbolic gesture; it could, in fact, have far-reaching implications. But the unsavory gang of traitors, saboteurs and jihad enablers that calls itself a “leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding” is working energetically to protect its assets, albeit in ways that are, not surprisingly, questionable at best.

A recent Middle East Forum (MEF) exposé revealed that back on Nov. 26, 2025, with no announcement or publicity of any kind, CAIR transferred ownership of its national headquarters building at 453 New Jersey Avenue SE in Washington, D.C. from the Washington Trust Foundation, which the deed says was “formerly known as the Council on American-Islamic Relations,” to the Sage Foundation. Sage Foundation paid the princely sum of ten bucks for this valuable property, which is within walking distance of the Capitol.

The Sage Foundation had existed for six months, as it was incorporated on May 13, 2025. And even now, what exactly the Sage Foundation remains shrouded in mystery, for it “has no known federal tax determination, no filed Form 990, no stated charitable purpose, and a District status of ‘Active – Not in Good Standing’ — it never filed its first required report.”

MEF points out, however, that Sage’s “birth certificate reads like a CAIR staff directory. Incorporator: Eyas Abdeen, CAIR Foundation’s treasurer and a Washington Trust director. Registered agent: Lena Masri, CAIR’s general counsel, on a cair.com email. Address: the headquarters parcel itself. And one name from outside the directory — the registry lists Sage’s beneficial owner as Malik Conn, at 4151 Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax. That address is not a home; it is the office of NOVA Business Law Group, a Virginia firm where a Malik Conn works as a corporate and nonprofit transactional attorney. So the only human the District was told stands behind the entity now holding CAIR’s headquarters appears to be an outside lawyer, listed at his firm — which points not to a hidden principal but to something emptier still: no filing names anyone with an actual ownership stake in Sage at all. That is the finding.”

Despite the fact that there is no information as to who exactly is involved in it, the Sage Foundation took over ownership of CAIR’s headquarters for the price of a single Hamilton. Sage, however, is not the sole owner. On February 13, 2026, Sage transferred 45% of the ownership of the building to the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) for $4,000,000, “more than the District values the entire parcel.”

NAIT has designated the building a waqf property, such that Sage Foundation “shall not sell, convey, hypothecate, finance, encumber or otherwise dispose of” it without written approval from NAIT. A waqf is property that is designated for Islamic use, and cannot casually be sold to someone who will use it for non-Islamic purposes.

Investigative journalist Larry Estavan explains: “NAIT is not just another nonprofit. It is one of the most important Islamic property-holding institutions in America, and has long been criticized for its historical Muslim Brotherhood connections. NAIT’s own materials describe its waqf system as a way of placing Islamic community properties into a perpetual trust, so that they remain dedicated to Islamic purposes.”

Those Muslim Brotherhood connections are significant: Both CAIR and NAIT have abundantly documented ties to the Brotherhood, which is dedicated, according to a captured internal document, to “eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within, and sabotaging its miserable house.”

On Nov. 18, 2025, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared CAIR a terrorist organization; the transfer of its headquarters took place eight days later. Now that headquarters is out of reach of efforts to seize CAIR’s assets, should such an effort ever come to pass.

Yet every aspect of how this was done was questionable. The CAIR headquarters may not be worth $4 million, but it’s certainly worth a great deal more than $10. The Sage Foundation, the new principal owner of the property, has no publicly known owners or officers, but only a lawyer. Its deal with NAIT places the property beyond the reach of any potential law enforcement effort to shut down CAIR as a terrorist organization.

Would an organization that had nothing to hide engage in this elaborate and highly questionable shell game?

August 4, 2026 | Comments »

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