The NEFA Foundation has published an original copy of a letter written by Ronald Rose, attorney for the Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW), a charity that once featured jihadist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on its board of directors.

In recent statements, officials from CSSW's head office in Yemen denied any link to Awlaki or an affiliated organization he managed in Kansas.  A far different picture emerges from Rose's 1995 letter to the Internal Revenue Service:

"A similar organization exists in the nation of Yemen whose goals are the same. In many cases, application for benefits will be submitted through the organization in Yemen and contributed funds will be routed through this organization to the ultimate recipients."

Rose later continued:

"The role of the charitable organization in Yemen will be to act as an agent or facilitator for the distribution of benefits from the Society."

In the letter, he added that decisions by CSSW's U.S. branch about who is to receive benefits would be made by the group's board of trustees "with assistance from representatives of the charitable organization in Yemen as well as representatives of various boards of directors of Mosques throughout the United States."

The organization's Form 990 filing, seen here, lists Awlaki as a vice president of CSSW. The charity is reported to have been founded by Shaykh Abd-al-Majid al-Zindani, named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the Treasury Department.