Townsend’s Forgotten Legacy: Blocking Investigations Into Hamas’ U.S. Fundraising Activities

By Brian Hecht, IPT

Bush Homeland Security Advisor Frances Fragos Townsend resigned today, after more than 4 years in that role. As is customary, President Bush praised his long term aide, stating that Townsend “has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans.”

The Associated Press described just such an instance:

When Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on Bush to refrain from using the phrase "Islamic fascists" on grounds it was offensive to Muslims, Townsend explained the president's use of the phrase.

"What the president was trying to capture was this idea of using violence to achieve ideological ends — and that's wrong," Townsend said at a news conference. "Regardless of what label you pin on it, it is this form of radical extremism that really wants to deny people freedom and impose a totalitarian vision of society on everyone, that we object to."

And it may indeed be true that Ms. Townsend has served ably in her recent capacity. But what neither any of the various hagiographies printed in today’s newspapers, nor the White House, will convey, is one of Townsend’s most consequential and lasting legacies in the field of counterterrorism.

Before 9/11, Townsend was an official with the Justice Department, beginning her career as a prosecutor in New York in 1985, and, as she moved up through the chain of command, exerted her authority in a key way, hampering an investigation of Hamas operatives in the United States. According to the Chicago Tribune (“Hamas probe nearly fell apart,” August 22, 2004):

The investigation started in Chicago in 1996 and was closed by the FBI in 2000--a victim of turf warfare inside the bureau, political sensitivity about Saudi Arabia and bureaucratic bungling, according to former and current officials involved with the case.

Had the investigation been allowed to proceed, charges could have been brought years ago, these officials said.

"We're five years behind because of the FBI dragging its feet and because of conflicts within the organization," retired FBI agent John Vincent said.

Mark Flessner, the federal prosecutor in charge of the case in the 1990s, said former Justice Department official Frances Fragos Townsend--who became President Bush's homeland security adviser in May--played a central role in stymieing the investigation. (emphasis added)

The investigation at issue was the case against Muhammad Salah and Abdelhaleem al-Ashqar, associates of current Hamas Deputy Political Bureau Chief Mousa Abu Marzook (indicted in absentia along with Salah and al-Ashqar). Last year, Salah was convicted of obstruction of justice and al-Ashqar of both obstruction of justice and contempt of court, but both were acquitted of the larger racketeering charge involving funneling money to Hamas.

Salah was eventually sentenced to 21 months in prison and al-Ashqar’s sentencing, after several delays, is set for this coming Wednesday.

Also from the Chicago Tribune in 2004:

Townsend, who headed the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence, Policy and Review, "played a big role in not allowing the investigation to proceed," Flessner said.

Townsend has been criticized by Justice Department officials for impeding investigations by rigidly enforcing the separation of the FBI's criminal and intelligence branches, according to a New York Daily News profile of Townsend published Aug. 16.

Flessner also said supervisors at the Justice Department's headquarters in Washington shied away from the investigation because it appeared to be leading to money from Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.

One of the factors cited for the less than optimal result of this trial is the timeliness of the evidence. The case may have turned out very differently if the Northern District of Illinois had filed charges when they had wanted.

Similarly, the Chicago case was closely related to, and likely had a direct impact on, the investigation into the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), another Hamas-fundraising trial which ended in a mistrial in October. An HLF juror specifically cited the length of time between some of the alleged crimes and when the charges were brought, stating, “Some of (the evidence) is 20 years old.”

To be sure, there were other issues which led to the HLF mistrial, and the government has stated its intention to retry the case. And, obviously, many mistakes were made in the years before 9/11, and Townsend was not the only official involved in shutting down the Chicago/Hamas investigation. But today's resignation, for better or worse, is a reminder that prosecutors and policy makers alike need to remain cognizant of long-term affects of certain political decisions on counterterrorism investigations and trials.

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