Islam in 2006 During Ellison's 2006 campaign Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb unearthed posts about Ellison's Minnesota Daily articles and his involvement with the Nation of Islam. In response Ellison wrote a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota & the Dakotas stating he had never been a member, and that his connections with the Nation of Islam were limited to an 18-month period during which he helped organize the Minnesota contingent at the 1995 Million Man March. In 2016, CNN referred instead to Ellison's "decade-long involvement in the Nation of Islam". Ellison's letter denounced the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan: "I wrongly dismissed concerns that they [Farrakhan's remarks] were anti-Semitic. They were and are anti-Semitic and I should have come to that conclusion earlier than I did". He explained his previous views by saying that he "did not adequately scrutinize the positions and statements of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, and Khalid Muhammed." He also wrote, "any kind of discrimination and hate are wrong. This has always been my position". During the 2006 campaign many prominent Jewish DFL activists supported Ellison, including fundraisers Samuel and Sylvia Kaplan and State Representative Phyllis Kahn, who said it was "inconceivable that he could have ever been an anti-Semite." Campaign contributions from members of CAIR During the 2006 election Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) and James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, spoke at an August 25 fundraiser for Ellison. Awad and Ellison knew each other as they attended the University of Minnesota Law School at the same time. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Ellison accepted individual contributions from Nihad Awad and another leader of CAIR; Ellison responded that he had fully disclosed all contributions and said that he had "nothing to hide". Ellison stressed that he was supported by individuals, and that the non-profit organization itself did not endorse his candidacy. His Republican opponent in the race, Alan Fine, criticized Ellison for accepting these contributions, saying that CAIR was "a group that Democrats say has deep ties to terrorism". In response to Ellison's opponents, CAIR leaders Parvez Ahmed and Nihad Awad wrote, "We are proud of our personal donations to Ellison's campaign" and derided any 'guilt by association' arguments. Reichstag fire and 9/11 On July 8, 2007, Ellison discussed the power of the executive branch in a speech before the organization