A new briefing document from ISGAP Action—the advocacy and policy arm of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy—lays out a detailed case that Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan has maintained a web of affiliations with individuals and organizations linked to designated foreign terrorist entities.
The briefing doesn't mince words about what this means for the institution she serves:
"The conduct of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, including her rhetoric, affiliations, campaign infrastructure, and ideological alignment with certain individuals and organizations, raises serious concerns about potential risks to the ethical and institutional integrity of the United States government."
According to Fox News, the document calls for a formal congressional inquiry, a Department of Justice legal review, and a forensic audit of Tlaib's campaign finances by the Federal Election Commission. These are not vague suggestions. They are specific requests tied to specific statutes—including 18 U.S. Code §2339B, which prohibits providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations.
This is, in short, a sitting member of Congress being flagged by a research organization for conduct that may implicate federal counterterrorism law.
Between 2020 and 2025, Tlaib's campaign paid almost $600,000 to Unbought Power, a consulting firm headed by Rasha Mubarak. Mubarak has faced scrutiny for past affiliations with CAIR—an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial—and the Alliance for Global Justice, which has been investigated for ties to the PFLP-linked group Samidoun.
Nearly six hundred thousand dollars. Not to a mainstream political consultancy. To a firm run by a figure whose organizational ties trace back to entities with documented connections to terrorist networks. Campaign finance is supposed to be transparent for exactly this reason—so the public can see where the money flows and who benefits. The ISGAP Action briefing wants the FEC to follow that money with a forensic audit focusing on donations from individuals tied to terror networks.
Whether the FEC acts remains to be seen. But the question is now on the record.
The briefing paints a picture of sustained engagement, not isolated incidents. According to the document, Tlaib shared the stage with Wisam Rafeedie—described as a convicted PFLP operative who defended the October 7 Hamas attack as "resistance"—at a conference. She has participated in events organized by groups with operational or ideological ties to terrorist networks. She has amplified their messaging on social media and adopted their terminology in official congressional communications.
ISGAP Action's briefing states it plainly:
"Through public endorsement, co-sponsorship, and amplification, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has consistently engaged with a range of organizations known to maintain operational or ideological ties to terrorist networks."
And further:
"Tlaib has engaged with and disseminated the messaging of these groups and has shared related content on social media platforms, has participated in events organized by these groups, and has referenced their terminology and conceptual frameworks in official congressional communications."
This is not a question of free speech or political disagreement. Members of Congress are free to criticize American foreign policy. They are not free to serve as amplifiers for organizations designated as threats to national security. There is a line between dissent and alignment, and the briefing argues Tlaib has crossed it repeatedly.
None of this exists in a vacuum. The House of Representatives censured Tlaib in November 2023 for promoting false narratives regarding the October 7 Hamas attacks. That censure was a rare and serious step—an institutional acknowledgment that her conduct had breached acceptable bounds.
It did not slow her down.
In September 2025, a second resolution was introduced following Tlaib's appearance at the "People's Conference for Palestine," where speakers allegedly whitewashed convicted Hamas financiers. She had earlier protested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's July 24 speech to Congress by holding a sign labeling him a "war criminal."
At an August 2021 event, Tlaib referenced "people behind the curtain" making money off "racism" from "Gaza to Detroit"—language the ISGAP Action briefing characterizes as echoing antisemitic tropes. The briefing treats this not as a slip but as part of a deliberate rhetorical pattern that borrows frameworks from extremist organizations and launders them through the legitimacy of a congressional office.
"Tlaib's conduct demonstrates how extremist ideologies can infiltrate mainstream democratic institutions. If left unchecked, her actions will continue to legitimize hate."
Censure, resolutions, watchdog reports. Congress keeps putting the evidence on the table. The question is whether anyone picks it up.
A separate, earlier ISGAP Action report placed Tlaib alongside Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota in a broader analysis of Muslim Brotherhood influence on American politics. That report noted:
"The election and re-election of congresswomen such as Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who have openly defended positions aligned with Brotherhood perspectives on Israel, counterterrorism, and international relations, demonstrates the intersection of identity politics and Brotherhood narratives."
The report was careful to note that neither congresswoman has a documented formal affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood. But the operational connections tell their own story:
"While neither congresswoman has a documented formal affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, both have appeared at events organized by Brotherhood-aligned organizations, have received campaign support from Brotherhood-aligned donors, and have consistently advocated positions aligned with Brotherhood objectives."
Formal membership is not the standard that matters here. What matters is the functional reality: events attended, money accepted, positions advanced. If it walks like alignment and fundraises like alignment, the absence of a membership card is not the defense some seem to think it is.
ISGAP Action's recommendations are specific and actionable:
These are not editorial suggestions from a blog. They are structured calls for the federal government's law enforcement and regulatory apparatus to examine a sitting member of Congress under statutes designed to protect national security. The severity of the request matches the severity of the allegations.
The deeper problem the ISGAP Action briefing identifies isn't one congresswoman. It's the mechanism by which extremist ideology enters mainstream institutions and acquires the protection of democratic norms. A congressional office confers legitimacy. It turns fringe rhetoric into committee-room language. It transforms event appearances into implicit endorsements backed by the full weight of elected office.
Every time Tlaib shares a stage with a convicted operative, amplifies messaging from terror-linked organizations, or funnels campaign dollars to firms headed by individuals with those affiliations, the barrier between designated terrorist entities and American democratic institutions erodes a little more.
The House has censured her once. A second resolution has been introduced. A watchdog organization has now formally asked the DOJ, FEC, and Congress itself to investigate. The evidence keeps accumulating. The file keeps getting thicker.
At some point, the question stops being whether Rashida Tlaib's conduct warrants scrutiny. It becomes whether the institutions responsible for that scrutiny are willing to act, or whether a congressional seat has become a shield that no amount of evidence can penetrate.
