LAS VEGAS — Jason Miyares, the Republican attorney general of Virginia, recently scored a major court victory in his closely watched investigation of a pro-Palestinian advocacy group with alleged ties to Hamas — inching closer than other ongoing legal efforts to obtain financial documents long shielded from public scrutiny.

His monthslong case against American Muslims for Palestine has drawn national attention in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel — as he has accused the group of “potentially violating” state charitable laws “including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.”

In his first interview addressing the case, Miyares said last week that his team is “aggressively in the process of using the legal system” to obtain the documents requested in a civil investigative demand approved by a judge in July — marking a significant turning point in the case.

“We have been relentless in that pursuit, and we will continue to be relentless in that pursuit,” he said in a conversation with Jewish Insider on the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit in Las Vegas, where he gave remarks on Thursday as a first-time speaker. “Our job is to get to the truth,” he explained. “It’s all systems go.”

While AMP is now seeking an appeal in a Richmond court, Miyares said he was unfazed by the challenge. “We fully anticipate that we will be successful,” he told JI. “We do not think they have a legal basis for attempting to make this appeal.”

Christina Jump, an attorney for AMP, said in a recent email to JI that she has “every confidence in the full use of Virginia’s judicial system, and AMP’s right to exercise it just like any other organization or citizen in Virginia, and in the United States,” adding: “Attorney General Miyares is certainly entitled to his opinion; mine differs.”

Citing the sensitivity of the case, Miyares declined to comment in depth on the investigation, even as he shared some updates on its progress. The case is among several ongoing lawsuits now targeting AMP. But Miyares has moved with much more efficiency than parallel legal challenges in multiple states.

Over the past year, AMP has faced mounting legal woes related to its financial support for the campus advocacy group National Students for Justice in Palestine, which has espoused pro-Hamas views. In a separate lawsuit filed in Illinois, the organization has also been accused of operating as the “alter ego” of a now-defunct group — with which some leading officials at AMP were once affiliated — found liable for abetting Hamas terrorism.

Miyares, 48, said he “became aware of” the lawsuit in Illinois, filed on behalf of an American killed by Hamas in 1996, while building his case against AMP — which denies that it has ever supported terrorism or sent money overseas. “We need the documents to ascertain what the truth is,” Miyares told JI.

His invitation to address RJC members at their high-profile donor summit in Las Vegas last week underscores Miyares’ focus on Jewish community issues as the top prosecutor in his state, where last February he announced the creation of a task force to monitor and combat antisemitism.

During his time at the RJC conference held at the Venetian Resort, Miyares, who visited Israel shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks, said that he was particularly moved by an empty, illuminated table honoring the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. “That was really powerful,” he said, “realizing that there are people missing around dinner tables in Israel and in America.”

Miyares, who is widely seen as a prospective gubernatorial candidate in next year’s election, dismissed speculation about his plans for higher office — just as Winsome Earle-Sears, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, announced on Thursday that she would seek the GOP nomination to replace the term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“I will make a decision and announcement at the appropriate time,” Miyares told JI, confirming that “now is not the appropriate time” as he focuses on “elections in Virginia this fall.”

Among other efforts undertaken by Miyares that have garnered praise from Jewish leaders in recent months was his legal guidance in helping to clear an anti-Israel encampment outside the Arlington, Va., home of Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

“I am, for one, grateful that law and order was kind of restored,” the attorney general said of the protest encampment that had been active for six months. “I believe in the First Amendment, but anybody who knows First Amendment jurisprudence is there are reasonable time, place and manner restrictions, and that was not a public throughway.”

He said he could not disclose further details on the removal of the encampment by state authorities in late July, invoking attorney-client privilege, but said he gave “advice and legal counsel” to Youngkin and the Virginia Department of Transportation on the “best way to move forward.”

Miyares said he has also been actively engaged in countering rising antisemitism on college campuses, noting he has met with several Jewish students who have recounted experiences in which they have felt unsafe. “I have been almost shocked at the depth of it and then how much this has been part of my job description working with these schools,” he said. 

Pivoting to a broader topic of discussion, Miyares said that in his conversations with other state attorneys general, “there is a concern of foreign government influence on some of these college campuses and college protesters.”

In his own state, he cited anti-Israel demonstrations last semester at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond — where, he said, “individuals showed up with gas masks, helmets and bull horns to try to coordinate with the protesters” and to teach them “how to flank” police officers, among other things. 

“It shows there’s a level of financing and training and sophistication that has happened,” Miyares suggested, alluding to recent intelligence from the Biden administration that warned of an alleged Iranian influence campaign on American protests against the war in Gaza. “I think that every state attorney general and law enforcement are quite aware of what the federal government is saying and then what is happening in our respective states on so many college campuses.”

Miyares clarified such concerns are “separate from AMP” investigation, which has no set timeline at the moment, he said. “We’re going to continue, but I don’t put an end date.”