Former Dallas Congressman Testifies at HLF Trial
By The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)
DALLAS - Former Congressman John Bryant (D-Texas), who served both as a lawyer and lobbyist for the Holy Land for Relief and Development (HLF), testified Thursday in the defunct charity's terror support trial. Bryant said HLF became a client in 1997 following news reports about an ongoing investigation into charity's alleged ties to terror.
Bryant said he sought several meetings with the Department of State and FBI officials asking for guidance about Palestinian charities which had terror ties and those which did not. HLF routed its donations through local Palestinian groups called zakat committees and he wanted federal officials to tell him whether HLF was doing anything illegal. If so, he wanted to know what the charity could do to take to change the situation.
He received no response, Bryant said.
During cross examination, government prosecutor Barry Jonas drew a distinction between a criminal investigation and an intelligence investigation. When Bryant approached the federal officials for guidance, the inquiry against HLF was in the intelligence investigation stage and only later became a criminal investigation, Jonas said. During a criminal investigation government agencies are under no obligation to share information, he said... Please click here for full article.