As counterterrorism officials in the United States and the Middle East investigate Islamic charities, critics have charged that the government is overextending its reach, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Government officials say Islamic fund raisers have stayed a step ahead of the authorities by taking donor files and moving among different groups. But over the past six years there has been little evidence to directly connect charities to individual acts of terrorism, the newspaper notes. Questions about the government’s approach grew in response to high-profile trials in which prosecutors failed to prove the connection between charities and terrorists or terrorist groups.

Government officials acknowledge that action against the organizations has incited anger and opposition among many American Muslims and some civil-liberties advocates, creating what counterterrorism officials consider a public-relations problem. Among the charges leveled at federal officials: that they have kept evidence of terrorist connections secret and used nonterrorism charges, such as tax and money-laundering violations, to put some charities out of business.

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