Al Qaeda Spokesman Anwar al-Awlaki Spent Thousands on Prostitutes

Virginia Imam Anwar al-Awlaki was connected to Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan, Underwear Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and three of the 9-11 hijackers. Al-Awlaki had interests beyond violent jihad, however. FBI documents show that, much like Muhammad's companions, al-Awlaki was fond of hiring prostitutes. (Muhammad allowed his followers to engage in a form of prostitution called "Muta.") The endless cycle of sex and violence came to an end for al-Awlaki when he was killed in a 2011 drone strike. According to Islam, he will now be rewarded with dozens of virgins and a divinely-powered erection.

Anwar al-Awlaki

FoxNews—On the eve of an infamous presentation Anwar al-Awlaki gave at the Pentagon in 2002, the Al Qaeda operative was busy preparing -- with a prostitute he paid $400 for at a Washington hotel.

It was one of more than a half-dozen liaisons Awlaki had with prostitutes between late 2001 and early 2002, while he was under FBI surveillance, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch and reviewed exclusively by Fox News.

The documents shed new light on the double life the American-born Awlaki was leading, while living in the Washington area and working as an imam at a mosque in Falls Church, Va.

In the years before he became publicly associated with Al Qaeda and was targeted for death by the U.S. government, Awlaki was by turns welcomed and investigated by different arms of the government -- not just over his radical ties, but his predilection for prostitutes.

Yet there is no indication he was ever brought up on charges, leading Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton to question why the cleric seemed to have a "protected status."

One document obtained by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, was a June 2002 memo from FBI Assistant Director Pasquale D'Amuro detailing Awlaki's encounters with prostitutes in the D.C. area. The memo appeared to propose charges against him, claiming he spent $2,320 on seven different occasions between Nov. 5, 2001, and Feb. 4, 2002. (Continue Reading.)