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Lawsuit Seeks To Keep Bailout Funds From AIG
By John P. Connolly, The Bulletin
A federal lawsuit has been filed against Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the Federal Reserve attempting to keep bailout funds from being given to American International Group (AIG).
AIG was a major casualty of the market instability following the U.S. mortgage market bust, being granted $85 billion in loans by the New York Federal Reserve in order to remain solvent.
According to the lawsuit, the U.S. government, through its ownership of AIG, is not only violating the Constitution, but also promoting and financing terrorism using American tax dollars.
AIG promotes business practices and insurance products that are compliant with Sharia law, which is based on compliance with the Islamic laws based on the Quran and Hadiths. AIG’s three-person board to implement its Shariah-compliant business is made up of members from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Pakistan. According to AIG, the role of its Sharia authority “is to review [its] operations, supervise its development of Islamic products, and determine Sharia compliance of these products and [its] investments.”
The Pakistani board member, Dr. Muhammed Imran Ashraf Usmani, of Sheik Mufti Taqi Usmani, the leading authority on Shariah financing who, in 1999, authored a book dedicating an entire chapter on why a Western Muslim must engage in violent jihad against his own country — even if Muslims are given equality and freedom to practice their religion and to proselytize.
According to the lawsuit, through the use of taxpayer funds, the U.S. government acquired a majority ownership interest in AIG, and as part of the bailout, Congress appropriated and expended an additional $40 billion of taxpayer money to fund and financially support AIG and its financial activities.
An important element of Sharia-compliant financing is a form of obligatory charitable contribution called zakat, which is a religious tax for assisting those who “struggle for Allah.” The amount of this tax is between 2.5 percent and 20 percent, depending upon the source of the wealth and customarily is used as alms for poor Muslims. The zakat is used by some to financially support Islamic charities, some of which have ties to terrorist organizations that are hostile to the United States.
The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, recently convicted for providing material support to Islamic terrorist organizations, is an example of an Islamic charity that qualifies for receipt of the zakat. Thus, as a direct consequence of the taxpayer funds appropriated and expended to purchase and financially support AIG, the U.S. government is now the owner of a corporation engaged in the business of collecting religious taxes.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of Kevin J. Murray, a former Marine infantryman who served two tours of duty in Iraq. Mr. Murray is represented by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and David Yerushalmi, an associated attorney who specializes in litigation and is an expert on Sharia law and Sharia- compliant financing. Mr. Yerushalmi also serves as general counsel to the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
According to the lawsuit, use of taxpayer funds to acquire ownership of a business that intentionally promotes, endorses, supports, and funds Sharia-based Islamic religious practices violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“This lawsuit not only raises significant constitutional issues, it also shines a light on serious national security issues that our own government has created by direct financial support and ownership of a business that supports anti-American, radical Islamic activities,” said Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. “Make no mistake, there is an internal cultural jihad underway against our great nation, and I fear that many of our political leaders are unwittingly complicit in it.”
The federal lawsuit challenges that portion of the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” that appropriated $40 billion in taxpayer money to fund and financially support the United States government’s majority ownership interest in AIG, which engages in Sharia-based Islamic religious activities that it says are anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-American.
The lawsuit seeks a court order to stop the taxpayer funding of AIG and its Islamic-based businesses and activities.
John P. Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@thebulletin.us.
AIG was a major casualty of the market instability following the U.S. mortgage market bust, being granted $85 billion in loans by the New York Federal Reserve in order to remain solvent.
According to the lawsuit, the U.S. government, through its ownership of AIG, is not only violating the Constitution, but also promoting and financing terrorism using American tax dollars.
AIG promotes business practices and insurance products that are compliant with Sharia law, which is based on compliance with the Islamic laws based on the Quran and Hadiths. AIG’s three-person board to implement its Shariah-compliant business is made up of members from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Pakistan. According to AIG, the role of its Sharia authority “is to review [its] operations, supervise its development of Islamic products, and determine Sharia compliance of these products and [its] investments.”
The Pakistani board member, Dr. Muhammed Imran Ashraf Usmani, of Sheik Mufti Taqi Usmani, the leading authority on Shariah financing who, in 1999, authored a book dedicating an entire chapter on why a Western Muslim must engage in violent jihad against his own country — even if Muslims are given equality and freedom to practice their religion and to proselytize.
According to the lawsuit, through the use of taxpayer funds, the U.S. government acquired a majority ownership interest in AIG, and as part of the bailout, Congress appropriated and expended an additional $40 billion of taxpayer money to fund and financially support AIG and its financial activities.
An important element of Sharia-compliant financing is a form of obligatory charitable contribution called zakat, which is a religious tax for assisting those who “struggle for Allah.” The amount of this tax is between 2.5 percent and 20 percent, depending upon the source of the wealth and customarily is used as alms for poor Muslims. The zakat is used by some to financially support Islamic charities, some of which have ties to terrorist organizations that are hostile to the United States.
The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, recently convicted for providing material support to Islamic terrorist organizations, is an example of an Islamic charity that qualifies for receipt of the zakat. Thus, as a direct consequence of the taxpayer funds appropriated and expended to purchase and financially support AIG, the U.S. government is now the owner of a corporation engaged in the business of collecting religious taxes.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of Kevin J. Murray, a former Marine infantryman who served two tours of duty in Iraq. Mr. Murray is represented by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and David Yerushalmi, an associated attorney who specializes in litigation and is an expert on Sharia law and Sharia- compliant financing. Mr. Yerushalmi also serves as general counsel to the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
According to the lawsuit, use of taxpayer funds to acquire ownership of a business that intentionally promotes, endorses, supports, and funds Sharia-based Islamic religious practices violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“This lawsuit not only raises significant constitutional issues, it also shines a light on serious national security issues that our own government has created by direct financial support and ownership of a business that supports anti-American, radical Islamic activities,” said Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. “Make no mistake, there is an internal cultural jihad underway against our great nation, and I fear that many of our political leaders are unwittingly complicit in it.”
The federal lawsuit challenges that portion of the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” that appropriated $40 billion in taxpayer money to fund and financially support the United States government’s majority ownership interest in AIG, which engages in Sharia-based Islamic religious activities that it says are anti-Christian, anti-Jewish and anti-American.
The lawsuit seeks a court order to stop the taxpayer funding of AIG and its Islamic-based businesses and activities.
John P. Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@thebulletin.us.
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lori lowenthal marcus wrote on Dec 23, 2008 8:56 AM: