GOP senator in brutal primary praised Islamic charity after feds cut terror-scrutinized parent, review finds

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Texas Sen. John Cornyn has repeatedly praised the American arm of Islamic Relief Worldwide — a charity the State Department cut ties with in 2021 amid concerns including praise of terrorists and antisemitism.

After the State Department aired its concerns regarding Islamic Relief Worldwide, Cornyn had kind words for its American branch. A Fox News Digital review uncovered two video messages and two letters where Cornyn commended Islamic Relief USA or endorsed the organization’s operations.

"Thanks to my friends at Islamic Relief USA for all their humanitarian work," Cornyn said in a May 2021 video address to the organization. A year later, the senator wrote a letter to Islamic Relief USA to "recognize and thank" the organization for its "humanitarian efforts across Texas and our nation." In a 2023 letter, Cornyn again referred to IRUSA as "friends" and commended the group for its "dedication to serving our most vulnerable neighbors."

Cornyn is locked in a heated Senate primary runoff election against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton has repeatedly questioned Cornyn's conservative bona fides, while Cornyn has responded by highlighting the attorney general's corruption scandals. Both candidates have made opposition to what they perceive as radical Islam focal points of their campaigns.

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Sen. John Cornyn speaks to the media in Austin on March 3, 2026. (Jack Myer/AP)

In late 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever ties with Islamic Relief Worldwide, arguing that the conduct of its parent organization has significantly damaged Islamic Relief USA's reputation. 

Leaders at both Islamic Relief USA and Islamic Relief Worldwide historically have maintained ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a multinational Islamist political movement, and expressed hostility toward Jewish people, according to social media posts and photographs unearthed by the Middle East Forum. Some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States.

"As we witness a rise in anti-Semitism in every corner of the globe, it is incumbent on all people of good conscience to stand strong and exhibit zero tolerance for the blatant and horrifying anti-Semitism and glorification of violence exhibited at the most senior levels of IRW," the State Department wrote in December 2020 of IRW. "We encourage all government bodies currently examining IRW activities and their relationship with IRW."

Multiple governments and banking entities have cut ties with IRW over terror financing concerns.

Khaled Lamada, the one-time chairman of Islamic Relief USA whose tax documents show he served on the organization’s board until October 2022, circulated text praising the "Mujahidin of Egypt" for "causing the Jews many defeats" through "jihad" in 2014, according to a Facebook post found by the Middle East Forum. The same year, he reportedly reposted messages on social media praising Hamas for inflicting a "huge defeat" against the "Zionist entity."

Egyptian media and the George Washington University Program on Extremism have identified Lamada as an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, participates in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice in the Hart Senate Office Building on Oct. 7, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

Several other Republican lawmakers interacted with Islamic Relief USA after the State Department denounced the organization.

Sens. Ted Cruz and Chuck Grassley, for instance, sent holiday greetings to the group in 2022. Staff working for then-Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rick Scott met with members of the group to discuss pending public health legislation in March of that same year, according to a social media post. Representatives for Islamic Relief USA were even reportedly invited to a 2025 meeting with Trump administration officials to discuss the future of foreign aid, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

"More than four years ago, members of our healthcare team took a Zoom meeting with constituents who said they had questions about domestic healthcare policy," a spokesman for Scott told Fox News Digital. "Neither those staffers nor Senator Scott knew that representatives from IRUSA would be joining the conference call. The Senator’s record on combating antisemitism and Islamist threats to American society more than speaks for itself."

Fox News Digital reached representatives for Cruz, Grassley, and Rubio for comment on Friday.

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, spoke to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2026, warning that Democrats' blockade of DHS funding could affect security preparations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in the U.S. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

Islamic Relief Worldwide has consistently denied having any links to terror organizations.

"Islamic Relief [Worldwide] operates to the highest standards of governance, compliance and oversight across all our work," a spokesperson for organization told Fox News Digital. "We are a purely humanitarian organization and we stand firmly against all forms of extremism, including antisemitism. Our staff deliver aid in some of the world's most dangerous places and some of our own colleagues have lost their lives to acts of terror. We have been victims of terrorism, not supporters of it. The leading financial institutions that work with us demand our work to be rigorously audited by governments, institutions and leading accounting firms, which have all confirmed that our funds are used for entirely humanitarian purposes."

Islamic Relief Worldwide claimed in a 2017 report that, in its various legal battles, "to date there has been no tangible evidence to substantiate any of the allegations made."

HSBC Bank ended its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide in 2016 amid terror financing concerns. Swiss banking giant UBS had done the same four years earlier. Israel, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands and Germany have all taken actions against Islamic Relief Worldwide for its alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

With Lamada as a leader, Islamic Relief USA was Islamic Relief Worldwide's largest source of funding, providing its parent organization with tens of millions of dollars per year in cash in 2021 and 2022, according to an Islamic Relief Worldwide financial disclosure.

The entire Islamic Relief Worldwide board resigned in August 2020 following reporting of widespread antisemitism among its senior leadership by The Times of London. One director, for instance, reportedly described Jews as the "grandchildren of monkeys and pigs" in a social media post, while others heaped praise on Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

A few months earlier, in June 2020, Cornyn filmed a video wishing Islamic Relief USA a happy Ramadan, the name for the Islamic holy month marked by fasting and prayer.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, are pictured together. (Fox News Digital)

In October 2025, Islamic Relief USA moved to sever its relationship with Islamic Relief Worldwide, stating "certain allegations regarding the conduct of IRW" would "affect negatively IRUSA’s well-deserved good reputation," according to a legal complaint filed in March.

"IRW has not only refused to cooperate in taking steps to avoid such existential risks but took further steps to increase those risks to IRUSA, which in turn threatened its ability to provide relief to its beneficiaries worldwide," reads the complaint, filed by Islamic Relief USA.

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Tax records show that Islamic Relief USA has provided funding to the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas, the mosque behind EPIC City, a planned Islamic community that has become a flashpoint in Texas politics. Both Cornyn and Paxton have taken actions to obstruct construction of the community.

Cornyn’s office and Islamic Relief USA did not respond to requests for comment after being reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.