Five men who ran a Texas-based Islamic charity are going on trial this week for funneling over $12 million to Hamas. Prosecutors allege that the money went to charitable committees, controlled by Hamas, which provided support to the families of suicide bombers. CAIR-watchers take note:

[Ghassan] Elashi [one of the five defendants] is presently serving a sentence of more than six years in federal prison after being convicted in a separate case of violating American embargoes on Libya and Syria, as well as sending money to a Hamas leader who is one of his cousins, Mousa Abu Marzook.
While the other defendants have court-appointed lawyers, Elashi’s defense is being paid for by a Texas charity, the Muslim Legal Fund. Mr. Meek, who serves as the group’s president, declined to say how much the group has raised or spent on Elashi’s legal bills. The legal fund raised about $435,000 in 2005, according to federal records.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has ample reason to be concerned about the Holy Land case: Elashi was a founder of CAIR’s Texas chapter. In addition, prosecutors have named the group as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.