Joe Sandler, CAIR's Legal hit man

Joe Sandler is CAIR's Legal hit man. His job is to find the critics of the Group and threaten them with legal action if they don't shut up. Last week they tried to stop Robert Spenser from speaking Just to refresh your memory:

Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch) was to make a speech at a YAF conference (yesterday), the group received a Fax which said in part “Our clients have instructed us to pursue every available and appropriate legal remedy to redress any false and defamatory statements that are made at the session.” (see the full fax here). Of course the speech happened anyway. CAIR is a regular at Stifling Debate about CAIR and about Islamic Terror.

This is no isolated incident. CAIR has been targeting Spencer for years, and was successful in intimidating National Review into pulling a book from its book service for which Spencer had written an ad. CAIR has targeted several conservative talk radio hosts, the the anti-CAIR website, scholar Daniel Pipes, author/journalist David Frum, and veteran conservative commentator Cal Thomas in a bid to silence dissent about its jihad-sympathizing ways. (From Michelle Malkin.com)

Oh and a here's a really fun fact, CAIR's Lawyer Mr. Joseph E. Sandler (and the guy who signed the fax) has an interesting background. He is also the lawyer for George Soros' MoveOn.org Voter Fund and the DNC (Source)

I'm no lawyer (sorry mom) but you would think that Mr. Sandler would worry more about CAIR being named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case (the group is accused of raising money for HAMAS) then stifling free speech.

Columnist Mike Adams thought the behavior of the Mr. Sandler and his law firm were anti-free speech and suggested to his readers that they contact Mr. Sandler to express their feelings about his suppression if free speech--Mr. Adams explains what happened next.

Duck Stew
By Mike S. Adams
Monday, August 13, 2007

Joe Sandler (sandler@sandlerreiff.com) of the Washington law firm Sandler, Reiff, and Young just had a very bad week. It started with his failed attempt to help a group of Consistently Arrogant Islamic Radicals (CAIR) threaten and intimidate leaders of the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) into relinquishing their First Amendment Rights.

Specifically, Sandler failed in his efforts to stop YAF speaker Robert Spencer, author of “The Truth about Muhammad,” from publicly criticizing CAIR at an annual conference for students in Washington, D.C. After publicly displaying his shortcomings – as an attorney and as an American - Sandler is now threatening me with federal criminal prosecution. I received this letter from him a couple of days ago:

"Mr. Adams: As a result of your specific request posted on Town Hall and/or your website (www.DrAdams.org), we have received hundreds of phone calls and emails, many of which are virulently racist and/or obscene and several of which are threatening. This afternoon in specific response to your request, an anonymous individual has jammed our phones, i.e., set a recording to send thousands of repeat calls to our telephone number. You are undoubtedly aware that the latter is a federal criminal offense. We are turning this matter over to the authorities. I request that you immediately pull down from your site the specific request that individuals make harassing phone calls, send harassing faxes and send harassing e-mails to this law firm."

Joe Sandler knows I never made a “specific request” that anyone jam his phone lines with repeat calls. Nor did I ask people to make “virulently racist,” “obscene,” or “threatening” phone calls. I did, however, make the following suggestions to my readers in a recent column:

1. Write Joseph E. Sandler (sandler@sandlerreiff.com) and tell him to stop helping Muslim extremists wage a Jihad against the First Amendment in the United States of America.

2. Call Joseph E. Sandler (202-479-1111) and tell him to stop helping Muslim extremists wage a Jihad against the First Amendment in the United States of America.

3. Fax a Xerox copy of the First Amendment to Sandler, Reiff & Young at (202) 479-1115.

4. Fax a Xerox copy of your extended middle finger to Sandler, Reiff & Young at (202) 479-1115.

Because my readers are not Democrat lawyers or Islamic Fascists (like many of the members of CAIR) they understood that #4 was a joke. That is why Sandler has been unable to report a single instance of birdies faxed to (202) 479-1115. Nonetheless, he sent me a second letter asserting that I could be prosecuted a federal statute (47 USCS § 223) dealing with “Obscene or harassing telephone calls in the District of Columbia or in interstate or foreign communications.”

The “relevant” portions of the statute are reproduced below:

“(a) Prohibited acts generally. Whoever--
(1) in interstate or foreign communications--
(A) by means of a telecommunications device knowingly--
(i) makes, creates, or solicits, and
(ii) initiates the transmission of, any comment, request,
suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication which is obscene
or child pornography, with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass
another person;
…
(D) makes or causes the telephone of another repeatedly or
continuously to ring, with intent to harass any person at the called
number; or
…
shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not
more than two years, or both.

"Sandler’s incompetence as an attorney – or, perhaps, his dishonesty and personal cowardice as a man - is abundantly demonstrated by this threat of prosecution. I asked my readers to express their disapproval of a man who has inserted himself into an important public debate. Now he’s upset that his fellow citizens are expressing their opinions.

As for any attempt to shut down his phone system (if that has even occurred or is as illusory as Robert Spencer’s alleged “defamation” of CAIR), I believe in personal responsibility. Just as Sandler is responsible for trying to threaten a great organization out of exercising its First Amendment rights, so is any vandal responsible for taking his or her protest too far.

But no one should be deceived. The real problem is that Sandler has walked into the kitchen and is complaining now that it is just too hot. The only good news is that Sandler is now becoming familiar (even if he misapplies) the laws of this nation. So maybe he seeks something less than full deference to Islamic law in the American legal system.

To date, Sandler has not been able to provide a single one of my readers with any statement (made by Robert Spencer) that defames CAIR – an organization, which, because if its worthless reputation, can hardly claim to have been besmirched.

So it looks like Sandler started last week by falsely accusing Robert Spencer of defamation. And he ended it by falsely accusing me of a federal crime. What will this spineless First Amendment terrorist do for an encore? Make sure to send him an email and ask him specifically (remember, that address is sandler@sandlerreiff.com). And be sure to tell him Mike Adams said …

Author’s Note: The last two words of this column were deleted in order to avoid federal prosecution. Rumor has is that they rhyme with “duckstew.”