The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced that it has filed an open records request with the State of Texas seeking any communications between Governor Greg Abbott and anti-Muslim extremists, anti-Palestinian lobby groups, and Israeli government officials, as well as any internal communications among Abbott’s staff about the Texas Muslims he has smeared and targeted in recent months.

[NOTE: members of the press can contact CAIR Communications Manager Ismail Allison at iallison@cair.com for a copy of the records request]. 

In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:

“The people of Texas elected Greg Abbott to serve and protect them, not to attack Texans for the benefit of hate groups or a foreign government. Yet over the past two years, Governor Abbott has repeatedly attempted to manufacture hysteria about Texas Muslims, Texas mosques, and now the state’s largest Muslim civil rights group. He has also attempted to smear and silence Texans critical of the Israeli government, including college students.

“The people of Texas have a right to know whether the anti-Muslim and pro-Israel extremists claiming that they influenced Governor Abbott’s recent attacks on the Texas Muslim community are telling the truth. That’s why CAIR has filed this comprehensive open records request. 

“Governor Abbott must reveal the extent of his communications with anti-Muslim activists and Israeli officials, as well as any bigoted remarks that Abbott or his staff have made about Texas Muslims behind closed doors. The people of Texas have a right to know whether their governor works for them.”

The Texas Public Information Act (PIA) CAIR has filed specifically seeks communications among Governor Greg Abbott and his executive staff referencing Muslims, Islam, Sharia, CAIR, CAIR-Texas, the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), as well as any communications with certain anti-Muslim activists and any Israeli government officials between 2023 and 2025.

The request, sent to the Office of the Governor’s General Counsel, seeks the emails, text messages, encrypted app communications, briefing materials, meeting notes, directives, calendar entries, call logs, and other records that may reveal the extent of coordination behind the state’s unprecedented actions targeting Muslim communities and organizations in Texas.

CAIR’s filing comes in response to a series of alarming actions by Governor Abbott, including his November 18, 2025 proclamation falsely designating CAIR and CAIR-Texas as “foreign terrorist” and “transnational criminal” organizations; his March 2025 announcements ordering frivolous investigations and a criminal probe into the East Plano Islamic Center; his public meetings with Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and an anti-Muslim activist’s claim of meeting with Abbott days before he issues his proclamation targeting CAIR-Texas.

CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com