The Investigative Project on Terrorism

The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is a non-profit research group founded by Steven Emerson in 1995, shortly after the release of his documentary film, Terrorists Among Us: Jihad in America, which first aired in the United States in 1994 on PBS.[1][2] The documentary was faulted for misrepresentation, and Robert Friedman accused Emerson of "creating mass hysteria against American Arabs."[3]

The Investigative Project on Terrorism
IPT
Steven Emerson, founder of IPT
Project typeResearch group
Budget
  • Funding: 1995
Websiteinvestigativeproject.org

History

IPT maintains a data center which includes archival information relating to the past activities of known Islamic terrorist groups. They also investigate suspected funding activities and networks of Islamic extremists in the US and abroad. IPT obtains information from a variety of sources, including "websites, list-serves, publications, informants, undercover recordings, government records, court documents, and so on". IPT has provided useful evidence to law enforcement and government agencies, and occasionally provides testimonial evidence during special committee hearings of the US Congress.[1][2][4] IPT has been criticized by various proponents of Islam. The liberal think-tank, Center for American Progress (CAP), stated that the IPT was one of ten foundations constituting what it called "the Islamophobia network in America".[5]

In January 2014, former congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Pete Hoekstra, was named the Shillman Senior Fellow for IPT specializing in national security, international relations, global terrorism and cyber security.[6]

In April 2006, Emerson organized The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation as a nonprofit organization, and serves as its executive director. In January 2007, the IRS granted the organization tax exempt status. The organization's nonprofit status received a great deal of scrutiny from critics. According to an article published in the Tennessean by Bob Smietana, allegations of ties between the newly organized charity, and Emerson's for-profit company, SAE, were brought to the attention of the IRS.[7] It was alleged that the foundation's tax free dollars were being funneled to Emerson's production company in violation of the law. A spokesperson for Emerson's SAE Productions said the approach had already been vetted by the group's lawyers and declared legal, that it was set up that way for security reasons, and he further explained that Emerson does not take any profits from SAE Productions. No formal charges were made, or disciplinary actions taken against Emerson. The foundation maintained its nonprofit status.[8]

According to Deepa Kumar in her book Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism, together with David Yerushalmi's Society of Americans for National Existence, have forwarded the notion that there is a conspiracy by Muslims to take over the US, that Muslims have infiltrated its society, making no distinctions between Muslims and Islamists, and contend that Muslim Americans have ties to terrorist organizations and want to institute Sharia law in the United States.[9]

In November 2016, the Project posted a 2010 speech given by U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, who is being considered to lead the Democratic National Committee, in which he said that United States foreign policy in the Middle East "is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. A region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. Does that make sense? Is that logic?"[10]

Indictments and trial evidence

According to an article in the Middle East Forum's Middle East Quarterly, "the IPT has access to information and intelligence to which the government is not privy, and has been instrumental in shutting down more than a dozen Islamic charitable terrorist and nonviolent front-groups since 2001."[11]

On December 2001, CBS: 48 Hours - Erin Moriarity interviewed Steven Emerson, Executive Director of IPT, for the CBS television documentary series, 48 Hours. The episode, "Target Terrorism", was broadcast on January 30, 2002. Emerson said that Sami al-Arian was running an organization in the United States that "was one and the same as the Islamic Jihad".[12] In February 2003, Arian was indicted for alleged fundraising and material support activities on behalf of terrorist organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). According to the Tampa Bay Times, Arian signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to "conspiring to help people associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad" and covering up his knowledge of the PIJ associations by lying to Jim Harper, a St. Petersburg reporter covering Al-Arian in the mid-1990s, and others.[13]

In the 2007 and 2008 Holy Land Foundation Trials - prosecution relied on evidence produced by IPT, one of the three groups responsible for much of the analysis of exhibits and the links from Holy Land Foundation (HLF) to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and the extended MB network.[14] On May 27, 2009, in federal court in Dallas, "U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders following their convictions by a federal jury in November 2008 on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization."[15] As a result of IPT's vast archives on the activities of Hamas front groups in the United States Law enforcement officials commented that IPT had an instrumental role in prosecuting and convicting the Holy Land Foundation, a trial that resulted in sweeping convictions for all defendants in 2008.[11]

Funding

The fund-raising arm of the Investigative Project on Terrorism is the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization established in 2006 by Steven Emerson. The Foundation is operated for the most part by SAE Productions, a Delaware-based company that was also founded by Emerson in 1994.[1][16] According to an officer of SAE Productions, the arrangement avoids the need for the kind of public disclosure associated with tax-exemption and is necessary for security reasons: "The very nature of our work mandates that we protect the organization and its staff from threats posed by those that are the subject or our research by preserving the confidentiality of our methods."[17]

An article by Bob Smietana in the Nashville Tennessean says that money is transferred from the non-profit foundation to the for-profit production company, SAE.[18][19] In 2008, the non-profit paid US$$3,390,000 to SAE Productions for what was described as "management services", while Emerson was SAE's sole officer.[18] IPT published a statement in response noting that, "At issue in the Tennessean story is the relationship between the IPT Foundation, a tax-exempt charity, and SAE Productions, a for-profit company run by IPT Executive Director Steven Emerson. The foundation accepts private donations and contracts with SAE to manage operations."[20]

IPT has stated that it "accepts no funding from outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or religious institutions".[1] In 2002 and 2003, Emerson received a total of $600,000 in grants from the Smith Richardson Foundation, a conservative-leaning policy research foundation.[18]

References
  1. "About The Investigative Project on Terrorism". IPT. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  2. Ziegler, Andrew, International Jihadists Infiltrating America?, American Diplomacy, January 15, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  3. Terrorism financing: origination, organization, and prevention. Hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, first session. p. Vol 4 p.178. ISBN 978-0756740306.
  4. Jeffrey H. Norwitz (2009). Pirates, Terrorists, and Warlords: The History, Influence, and Future of Armed Groups Around the World. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-60239-708-8.
  5. Greg Barrett (2012). The Gospel of Rutba: War, Peace, and the Good Samaritan Story in Iraq. Orbis Books. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-60833-113-0.
  6. "The Honorable Pete Hoekstra Joins The Investigative Project On Terrorism As The Shillman Senior Fellow". PRNewswire-USNewswire. January 14, 2014. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014.
  7. Bob Smietana (October 24, 2010). "Anti-Muslim crusaders make millions spreading fear - 1 of 2 parts". The Tennessean, a Gannet Co.
  8. Laura Rozen (October 24, 2010). "Nonprofit group's ties to for-profit entity draw scrutiny". Politico.
  9. Kumar, Deepa (2013). Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire. Haymarket Books. p. 179. ISBN 978-1608462117.
  10. Detrow, Scott (2 December 2016). "Keith Ellison's Bid To Lead The DNC Faces Increasing Resistance". National Public Radio. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  11. Michael, George (Winter 2010). "Steven Emerson Combating Radical Islam". Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  12. "Target Terrorism".
  13. "In his plea deal, what did Sami Al-Arian admit to?". Tampa Bay Times. April 23, 2006. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  14. Andrew Cochran (November 29, 2007). "Special Public Event: Panel on Holy Land Foundation & Muslim Brotherhood". Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  15. "Federal Judge Hands Downs Sentences in Holy Land Foundation Case". DOJ Office of Public Affairs. May 27, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  16. Nathan Guttman and Larry Cohler-Esses, The Forward, November 17, 2010, Terror Expert Emerson Feels His Own Heat Over Finances
  17. Ray Locker, Managing director, IPT, Letter to The Forward, November 24, 2010, The Investigative Project on Terrorism Responds
  18. Smietana, Bob. "Anti-Muslim crusaders make millions spreading fear". The Tennessean. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015.
  19. John Sugg (Jan–Feb 2011). "What people in Nashville now know about Steven Emerson". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: 25ff.(subscription required)
  20. "Note to Readers on Tennessean Story". IPT. October 25, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
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