Stephen C. Coughlin is an American lawyer and former Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence analyst who was a contract employee providing advice and analysis at the Pentagon, until he was let go in 2008 under controversial circumstances, reportedly owing to his views on the nature of Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood.
[5] A lawyer and military intelligence officer, he was a major in the United States Army Reserve, when in the late 1990s he was tasked with investigating and prosecuting an intellectual property case in Pakistan, following which he became familiar with Sharia law.
[1][2][8] In connection with the trial against the Islamic charity Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which had been designated a terrorist organization for providing millions in funds to Hamas, Coughlin wrote a memorandum that explicitly criticized several groups that the U.S. Justice Department had been involved with as part of their Muslim outreach program, identifying them as front groups of the Muslim Brotherhood that were part of a subversion plan against the United States.
[8] One official claimed the decision was due to "budget cuts", but this was not believed by others, including generals and admirals who according to Gertz quietly rallied to support Coughlin.
[14] He has in addition been on the advisory board of the International Free Press Society,[13] and vice president of the Strategic Engagement Group alongside former FBI agent John Guandolo.