In August 2004 Ismail Selim Elbarasse of Annandale, VA was arrested after authorities witnessed his wife videotaping Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge from their SUV as Elbarasse drove. The images captured by Elbarasse's wife included close-ups of cables and other features that were "integral to the structural integrity of the bridge." Elbarasse is a former board member of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and Hamas activist. He served on the Palestine Committee, created by the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States to help Hamas politically and financially. In addition, he was an assistant to Mousa Abu Marzook when Marzook was the Hamas political director. The two shared a bank account. Elbarasse also maintained a slew of internal Palestine Committee records, which federal investigators found during a 2004 search of his Virginia home. The documents were subsequently used for the prosecution of five Holy Land Foundation officials, found guilty in 2008 of funneling money to Hamas. Those exhibits were admitted into evidence and titled "Elbarasse Search" followed by an identification number.

See: U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, et al.