Congressional Candidate Returns Muslim Group Donation

By: Sandip Roy, New America Media

Indian-American congressional hopeful Ami Bera is in the middle of a donation controversy, reports Sunita Sohrabji for India West. The Democratic candidate for California's third district has been in the news for surpassing incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Lungren in the fundraising arena.

But Bera just returned a check from the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations after the California Republican Party and the Republican Jewish Coalition alleged that CAIR has ties to Hamas, which the United States classifies as a terrorist organization. CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for funding Hamas and other groups.

Basim Elkarra, the executive director of CAIR, has been in similar controversies before. Sen. Barbara Boxer rescinded an award he was given for community leadership. Bera told India-West that Elkarra was a friend but he did not want his donation to become a distraction from the real issues of the campaign.