Friends of Hamas

Friends of Hamas is an obviously terrorist-friendly association which, according to conservative news sources, may have paid speakers fees to Chuck Hagel (an Obama nominee for US Secretary of Defense). The story was initially broken on 7 February 2013 on Breitbart by then-editor-at-large Ben Shapiro, and was subsequently broadcast on 11 February 2013 by Lou Dobbs on his Fox News Business program. Over the next few days, other right-wing outlets began spreading the story, such as National Review, The Washington Times and RedState. The news item even made its way into some international media such as the Israeli National News.

This is a serious and potentially damning allegation, and which may have merited serious investigation... if the Friends of Hamas had been something other than a throwaway joke made up by a snarky journalist.