Full opinion text
KING, Circuit Judge: In this consolidated case, we address the appeals of five individuals and one corporate defendant convicted of conspiracy and substantive offenses for providing material aid and support to a designated terrorist organization. The terrorist organization at issue is Hamas, which in 1995 was named a Specially Designated Terrorist by Presidential Executive Order pursuant to authority granted by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. Hamas was further designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997, as contemplated by 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. Although this case is related to terrorism, it does not involve charges of specific terrorist acts. Instead, it focuses on the defendants’ financial support for terrorism and a terrorist ideology. The defendants were charged with aiding Hamas by raising funds through the corporate entity Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Texas-based, pro-Palestinian charity that the Government charged was created for the sole purpose of acting as a financing arm for Hamas. Although the charged conspiracy began in 1995 when Hamas was first designated as a terrorist organization, the defendants’ connection to Hamas arose much earlier. Established in the late 1980s, the Holy Land Foundation held itself out as the largest Muslim charitable organization in the United States. It raised millions of dollars over the course of its existence that were then funneled to Hamas through various charitable entities in the West Bank and Gaza. Although these entities performed some legitimate charitable functions, they were actually Hamas social institutions. By supporting such entities, the defendants facilitated Hamas’s activity by furthering its popularity among Palestinians and by providing a funding resource. This, in turn, allowed Hamas to concentrate its efforts on violent activity. The trial, which followed an earlier mistrial and lasted approximately six weeks, produced a massive record on appeal. The Government produced voluminous evidence obtained from covert surveillance, searches, and testimony showing a web of complex relationships connecting the defendants to Hamas and its various subgroups. The financial link between the Holy Land Foundation and Hamas was established at the Foundation’s genesis and continued until it was severed by the Government’s intervention in 2001. The defendants raise a host of issues challenging both their convictions and their sentences, including numerous errors that they claim deprived them of a fair trial. While no trial is perfect, this one included, we conclude from our review of the record, briefs, and oral argument, that the defendants were fairly convicted. For the reasons explained below, therefore, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgments of conviction of the individual defendants. We DISMISS the appeal of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Factual and Procedural Background..........................................485 TT Dismission ........................................................490 A. Testimony of witnesses using pseudonyms ................................490 B. Hearsay evidence......................................................494 1. Mohamed Shorbagi.................................................494 2. Documents seized from the Palestinian Authority.......................497 3. Elbarasse and Ashqar documents ....................................501 Prejudicial evidence under Rule 403 ......................................507 Expert and lay opinion testimony........................................511 OP 1. John McBrien .....................................................511 2. FBI Agents Lara Burns and Robert Miranda..........................513 3. Matthew Levitt....................................................515 4. Steven Simon......................................................516 E. Letter rogatory........................................................516 F. Production of the defendants’ intercepted statements.......................518 G. Harmless and cumulative error..........................................525 1. Harmless error....................................................525 a. HLF’s connection to Hamas .....................................527 b. Hamas’s control of the zakat committees ..........................531 2. Cumulative error...................................................535 HG. Jury charge...........................................................535 I. The search of HLF’s offices.............................................539 J. Defendant Elashi’s double jeopardy issue.................................545 1. Time .............................................................546 2. Co-conspirators....................................................547 3. Statutory offenses..................................................547 4. Overt acts.........................................................549 5. Place.............................................................550 K. Defendant El-Mezain’s collateral estoppel issue............................551 1. Collateral estoppel as a bar to the instant conviction....................551 2. Collateral estoppel and the exclusion of evidence.......................557 L. Mistrial and double jeopardy............................................559 M. Challenge to FISA applications and intercepts.............................563 1. Disclosure of FISA applications and orders............................563 2. Suppression of FISA intercepts......................................568 N. Sentencing............................................................570 1. Terrorism adjustment ..............................................570 2. Value of laundered funds........ 571 0. Appeals of HLF and Nancy Hollander 573 1. Background................... 573 2. HLF’s appeal.................. 576 3. Hollander’s appeal.............. 578 III. Conclusion......................... 579 I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The instant prosecution began with an indictment of the defendants in 2004 that ended in a mistrial in 2007 but with a partial verdict. The defendants were retried and convicted in 2008. The indictment, as superseded, charged the defendants with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (i.e., Hamas), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(l) (Count 1); providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(l) (Counts 2-10); conspiracy to provide funds, goods, and services to a Specially Designated Terrorist (i.e., Hamas), in violation of 50 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1706 (Count 11); providing funds, goods, and services to a Specially Designated Terrorist, in violation of 50 U.S.C. §§ 1701-1706 (Counts 12-21); conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) (Count 22); substantive money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(A) (Counts 23-32); forfeiture of assets; and certain tax offenses not relevant to this appeal. The charges arose after many years of widespread surveillance conducted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) of several individuals and of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (“HLF”). Until it was closed by the Government in 2001, HLF was a pro-Palestinian charitable organization based in Richardson, Texas. Individual defendants Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi, and Mohammad El-Mezain served as officers and directors for HLF. Defendant Abdulrahman Odeh managed HLF’s New Jersey office, and Defendant Mufid Abdulqader was a speaker and performer who appeared at HLF fundraising events. HLF held itself out to be the largest Muslim charity in the United States, ostensibly with the mission of providing humanitarian assistance to needy Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank and Gaza. The Government charged that in reality HLF’s mission was to act as a fundraising arm for Hamas, also known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, and to assist Hamas’s social wing in support of Hamas’s goal to secure a Palestinian Islamic state in what is now Israel. The indictment charged the defendants with assisting Hamas by tunneling money to certain “zakat” commit,tees located in the West Bank. Zakat committees are charitable organizations to which practicing Muslims may donate a portion of their income pursuant to their religious beliefs, but the Government charged that the committees to which the defendants gave money were part of Ha-mas’s social network. According to the evidence at trial, which we view in the light most favorable to the verdict, Hamas operates political, military, and social branches to serve its overall goal to destroy Israel. Its charter advocates violent jihad as the only solution for the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, and it considers it the duty of all Muslims to participate in this objective either through direct action or through financial support. Hamas’s social wing serves this purpose in multiple ways. It provides social services like education and medical care to the needy through the operation of schools and hospitals. But it also builds grassroots support for Hamas and its violent activities through these same means. The social wing is crucial to Hamas’s success because, through its operation of schools, hospitals, and sporting facilities, it helps Hamas win the “hearts and minds” of Palestinians while promoting its anti-Israel agenda and indoctrinating the populace in its ideology. The social wing also supports the families of Hamas prisoners and suicide bombers, thereby providing incentives for bombing, and it launders money for all of Hamas’s activities. Therefore, aid to Hamas’s social wing critically assists Hamas’s goals while also freeing resources for Hamas to devote to its military and political activities. The evidence showed that HLF and Ha-mas were created along similar time lines. In 1987, a Palestinian revolt in Israel, known as the Intifada, spurred the founding of Hamas by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as a representative organization for Palestine. Hamas considered itself to be the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a much older Islamic organization created in the 1920s and to which Yassin belonged. After Hamas’s formation, the Muslim Brotherhood directed its world-wide chapters to establish so-called “Palestine Committees” to support Hamas from abroad. In the United States, Defendants Baker, El-Mezain, and Elashi were members of a Palestine Committee headed by unindicted co-conspirator Mousa Abu Marzook. The Government established that Marzook was the leader of Hamas’s political wing in the 1990s. According to the prosecution’s case, the Palestine Committee also created other organizations in the United States to support Hamas. The Committee created not only HLF but also the Islamic Association for Palestine (“IAP”), which was a media entity, and the United Association for Studies and Research (“UASR”), which published papers and books about Hamas. Defendant Baker was also an IAP board member. In 1988, Baker founded the Occupied Land Fund as a Muslim charity in Indiana. He, Elashi, and El-Mezain later incorporated the organization in California before renaming it as HLF in 1991. In 1992, HLF moved to Texas, where it was located across the street from Elashi’s computer company, Infocom Corporation. HLF stored many of its records and documents at Infocom, which were later seized by the FBI. The defendants raised money through HLF by conducting nationwide fundraising events, conferences, and seminars where HLF sponsored speakers and solicited donations. Some of the events featured songs, performances, and skits glorifying Hamas. Defendant Abdulqader was part of a band that performed at many of these events. He also traveled around the country on HLF’s behalf to speak and raise funds. HLF also conducted teleconferences where participants could listen to featured speakers and donate money. Pri- or to 1995, the individual defendants and HLF more or less openly supported Ha-mas. Then, after Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization, the defendants’ support became less obvious. Speakers and performers at HLF fundraising events no longer openly referred to Hamas even though HLF continued to support the same zakat committees that Hamas controlled. From 1992 to 2001, HLF raised approximately $56 million in donations. The Government charged that from 1995 to 2001, HLF sent approximately $12.4 million outside of the United States with the intent to willfully contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas. During the period from the late 1980s to the early 1990s when HLF was raising funds for the Palestinian cause, and prior to Hamas’s designation as a terrorist organization, there were ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, of which the defendants took notice. In September 1993, Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (“PLO”), and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed what became known as the Oslo Accords. These accords established mutual recognition between the Israeli government and the Palestinians. They also created a limited governing body for Palestinians, known as the Palestinian Authority (“PA”). As a political rival of Arafat and his Fatah political party, Ha-mas opposed the Oslo Accords. One month after the Oslo Accords were signed, Defendants Baker and Elashi, and possibly Abdulqader, participated in a meeting at a Philadelphia hotel (“the Philadelphia meeting”) that was secretly recorded by the FBI. The meeting participants, which included many of the members of the Palestine Committee, discussed their opposition to the Oslo Accords, their desire to derail the peace process, and their continued support of Hamas. Statements from Baker suggested an aura of deception and an intent to hide a connection to Hamas. At one point, Baker instructed that if anyone should inquire about the purpose of the meeting, participants should explain that it was a “joint workshop” between HLF and the IAP. He also indicated that the participants should not mention “samah” in an explicit manner and should refer at the session only to “Sister Samah,” which is Hamas spelled backwards. Beginning in approximately 1994, Government surveillance on the defendants included wiretaps on the telephones and facsimile machines of HLF, Baker, El-Mezain, and Abdulqader. In addition to the wiretaps, the Government conducted searches at the homes of two unindicted co-conspirators, Ismail Elbarasse and Abdelhaleen Masan Ashqar, who had also participated in the Philadelphia meeting. The searches yielded numerous documents corroborating the creation of the Palestine Committee and its oversight of HLF as a fundraising arm for Hamas. The documents included organizational flow charts, bylaws, and meeting minutes. The amended bylaws identified HLF under its previous name, the Occupied Land Fund, as the “official organization which represents the financial and charitable aspect to support the homeland people in the occupied territories.” The bylaws further showed that the Muslim Brotherhood had directed the collection “of donations for the Islamic Resistance Movement.” In January 1995 the President issued Executive Order 12947, designating Ha-mas as a Specially Designated Terrorist (“SDT”). The designation prohibited financial transactions with or for the benefit of Hamas and authorized the Treasury Department to block assets within the jurisdiction of the United States in which Hamas had an interest. The Executive Order determined, in part, that “grave acts of violence committed by foreign terrorists that disrupt the Middle East peace process constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” Hamas was further designated as a foreign terrorist organization (“FTO”) by the State Department in 1997 pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. On December 3, 2001, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. (“IEE-PA”), the United States designated HLF as a SDT. The next day, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a blocking order on HLF’s assets. On that same day, OFAC entered HLF’s offices in Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, and California, and seized physical property. The seizure was conducted pursuant to the authority of IEEPA; no judicial warrant was obtained. In April 2002 the FBI sought, and was granted, a warrant from a magistrate judge to search the property that OFAC had seized. Evidence obtained from that search was used at trial. A search was also conducted at Infocom, where the FBI seized more of HLF’s documents and records. At trial, the Government’s evidence was voluminous and came from a variety of sources, including the above seizures, wiretaps, and financial documents. It also included evidence seized by the Israeli military from the zakat committees and from the PA’s headquarters in Ramallah. The key issues addressed by the evidence were the connection between the defendants and Hamas, and Hamas’s control of the zakat committees. The evidence also covered two general time periods: the time before Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization and the time following the designation. Evidence demonstrating the defendants’ support of Hamas before the designation included numerous video recordings showing several individual defendants appearing at HLF fundraising events attended by Hamas leaders, such as Marzook and Khalid Mishal, who is the current leader of Hamas’s political wing. The speakers and performers praised Hamas at many of these events, where donations were encouraged and solicited by HLF. Some of the videos were seized from HLF offices, while others were found buried in the backyard of a residence formerly occupied by Fawaz Mushtaha, who was associated with the Palestine Committee and also played in the same band with Defendant Abdulqader. The Government also presented evidence of numerous financial transactions between HLF and Hamas leader Marzook and Marzook’s wife Nadia. Marzook further had personal connections to the defendants as shown through numerous telephone calls to El-Mezain and Baker, and the listing of contact information for El-Mezain, Baker, and Elashi in his personal telephone book. Mohamed Shorbagi, a former HLF representative who pleaded guilty in a separate case, testified that HLF’s purpose was to support Hamas. He testified about attending closed meetings with the individual defendants and Hamas leaders. He described one meeting in 1994 where Marzook introduced Mishal, who spoke about the emergence of Hamas and the participants’ roles in supporting the Hamas movement. According to Shorbagi, El-Mezain led a sub-group from that meeting in discussions on fundraising. Shorbagi’s testimony that HLF supported Hamas was consistent with testimony from an Israeli Security Agency employee who provided expert testimony about Hamas financing. Using the pseudonym “Avi” for security reasons, the witness testified that most of the zakat committees that received funds from HLF had come under the control of Hamas by 1991. This testimony was also consistent with conversations captured from the Philadelphia meeting in 1993, wherein Muin Shabib, who was later identified at trial as a Hamas leader, discussed the zakat committees and the extent to which they were “ours,” meaning Hamas. It was also consistent with a 1991 letter addressed to Baker found in Elbarasse’s home that discussed various zakat committees and used the same language to indicate which committees were controlled by Hamas. Prior to 1995 it was not illegal for HLF to have a relationship with or to provide support for Hamas. The above evidence was therefore important to establish the defendants’ relationship with Hamas figures and to demonstrate their intent when viewed in conjunction with other evidence of their post-1995 conduct. The Government presented evidence through video recordings, letters, and other documents found in HLF’s possession demonstrating that the defendants continued to support Hamas. For example, in a 1996 video from a fundraising event, Abdulqader sent greetings to Hamas leaders. In 1997 HLF sponsored a teleconference featuring two prominent Hamas speakers. Indeed, HLF maintained a computerized list of featured speakers, last modified in 1999, that included numerous individuals who were identified through testimony as Hamas members. But perhaps the strongest evidence that the defendants provided support to Hamas after Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization came through testimony and financial documents showing that HLF provided funds to the same Hamas-controlled zakat committees that it had supported before the designation. The evidence of Hamas control of the zakat committees was substantial. For example, the Government offered testimony from Dr. Matthew Levitt, an expert on the subject of Hamas, who testified based on his research that Hamas controls many of the zakat committees in the West Bank and Gaza. Avi also testified from his personal study of Hamas that all of the zakat committees named in the indictment were Hamas institutions. In addition, the Israeli military seized a voluminous amount of evidence related to Hamas from the zakat committees. This evidence included Hamas posters and paraphernalia, as well as internal Hamas documents and communications. The evidence also included video recordings seized from the zakat committees showing school ceremonies and other events consistent with Hamas ideology and Hamas’s use of its social wing to promote its agenda. Furthermore, numerous individuals connected to the various zakat committees were identified as prominent Hamas leaders. The defendants’ theory at trial largely was that they did not support Hamas or terrorism, but rather shared a sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people through support of the zakat committees and the charitable work the committees performed. Their view was that the Government never designated as a terrorist organization any of the zakat committees or anyone connected to the committees. They argued that the Treasury Department had to designate a zakat committee before contributions to it would be unlawful, suggesting that non-designated committees were not controlled by Hamas. The jury rejected the defense’s theories and credited the Government’s evidence by finding each defendant guilty of all applicable charges. The district court imposed sentences ranging from 65 years in prison for Baker and Elashi, to 20 years for Abdulqader, and 15 years for Odeh and El-Mezain. HLF was sentenced to one year of probation. The defendants now appeal, raising multiple claims of error before, during, and after trial. Despite raising a myriad of issues, including numerous claims of erroneous evidentiary rulings, the defendants do not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support their convictions. We first address the defendants’ various claims of trial error and their challenge to the jury charge. We then address a challenge on Fourth Amendment grounds to the search conducted in HLF’s offices in December 2001, and then turn to three separate Double Jeopardy issues. Next, we will address the defendants’ issues concerning classified information, and then we will consider two separate sentencing challenges. After considering the issues raised by the individual defendants, we turn to the separate appeal by HLF as a corporate defendant. Finally, we consider a separate appeal filed by defense attorney Nancy Hollander. II. DISCUSSION A. Testimony of witnesses using pseudonyms The defendants’ first claim of trial error involves the district court’s allowance of two witnesses to testify using pseudonyms. One of the witnesses, who used the name “Avi,” was a legal advisor for the Israeli Security Agency (“ISA”) and testified as an expert witness about Hamas financing and control of the zakat committees. The other witness, “Major Lior,” was employed by the Israeli Defense Forces (“IDF”) and testified as a fact witness to authenticate documents that IDF had seized during a military operation known as Operation Defensive Shield. The district court ruled that the witnesses could use pseudonyms because revealing their true names “would jeopardize national security and pose a danger to the safety of the witnesses and their families.” The defendants argue that the use of pseudonyms by Avi and Major Lior violated the defendants’ Fifth Amendment due process right and their Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses. The defendants contend that they could not verify Avi’s and Major Lior’s credentials or investigate them for prior acts undermining their veracity; they could not present opinion and reputation evidence about their character for untruthfulness; and they could not develop other impeachment evidence. They further complain that the district court ignored procedures under the Classified Information Procedures Act (“CIPA”), 18 U.S.C. app. 3, § 6, designed to protect a defendant’s right to present his defense when classified information is involved. They further note that besides Avi the Government could have called another witness it had noticed as an expert, whose identity was not classified, to testify about Hamas’s control of the zakat committees, and they posit that their constitutional rights would not have been violated had the Government done so. Ordinarily, a district court’s limitation on the scope of the defendant’s cross-examination of government witnesses is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Bryant, 991 F.2d 171, 175 (5th Cir.1993). Alleged violations of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment during cross-examination are reviewed de novo, applying a harmless error standard. United States v. Diaz, 637 F.3d 592, 597 (5th Cir.2011). “Where there is no constitutional violation, we will not find an abuse of the trial court’s discretion absent ‘a showing that the limitations were clearly prejudicial.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). Although the Confrontation Clause guarantees the right of a defendant to confront his accusers, that “right is not unlimited.” Id. The district court has discretion “to impose reasonable limits on such cross-examination based on concerns about, among other things, ... the witness’ safety....” Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986). “What is required is that defense counsel be ‘permitted to expose to the jury the facts from which jurors, as the sole triers of fact and credibility, could appropriately draw inferences relating to the reliability of the witness.’ ” Diaz, 637 F.3d at 597 (citation omitted). In Smith v. Illinois, 390 U.S. 129, 88 S.Ct. 748, 19 L.Ed.2d 956 (1968), the Supreme Court found error in allowing a witness, who testified about purchasing drugs from the defendant, to use a pseudonym. The Court held that “the very starting point in ‘exposing falsehood and bringing out the truth’ through cross-examination must necessarily be to ask the witness who he is and where he lives.” Id. at 131, 88 S.Ct. 748 (footnote and citation omitted). The Court recognized that disclosing the witness’s true identity “open[s] countless avenues of in-court examination and out-of-court investigation,” and that closing that avenue “effectively ... emasculatefs] the right of cross-examination itself.” Id. The defendants urge that Smith’s reasoning required disclosure of the witnesses’ true names in this case. We are not persuaded that Smith dictates that result. There is “no fixed rule with respect to disclosure.” Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 62, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d 639 (1957). Instead, there must be a “balancing [of] the public interest in protecting the flow of information against the individual’s right to prepare his defense,” which depends on “the particular circumstances of each case.” Id. This balancing required disclosure of the witness’s name in Smith because the “only real question at trial” was the credibility of the single, principal witness, who was the only person, other than the defendant, who testified about the crucial events at issue. Smith, 390 U.S. at 130, 88 S.Ct. 748. But Smith, unlike the instant case, did not involve classified information or issues of witness safety. See id. at 133-34, 88 S.Ct. 748 (White, J., concurring) (recognizing as beyond the proper bounds of cross-examination “those inquiries which tend to endanger the personal safety of the witness”). We must account for these considerations in the analysis. Witness safety was a factor in another case involving balancing in United States v. Celis, 608 F.3d 818, 830-32 (D.C.Cir.2010), where the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the use of pseudonyms by Government witnesses from Colombia in a prosecution for a drug conspiracy. The defendants and witnesses were connected to Colombian revolutionaries who had threatened to kill cooperating witnesses, which justified the concealment of the witnesses’ identities at trial. Id. at 833. Because the Government planned to have the witnesses testify about their involvement with the defendants and drug trafficking, however, it was necessary to allow the defendants an opportunity to attack their credibility. Id. To enable such confrontation, the district court issued a protective order allowing defense counsel to learn the true names of the witnesses for investigative purposes only days before the testimony was to be given at trial. Id. The court of appeals held that this approach was “an appropriate balancing of interests in the relevant case-specific context.” Id. In the instant case, the district court conducted a similar balancing of interests but concluded that there should be no disclosure of the witnesses’ true names. It held that “defendants’ interest in obtaining the names of the witnesses is outweighed by the Government’s need to keep the information secret.” We agree. First, we conclude that there was a serious and clear need to protect the true identities of Avi and Major Lior because of concerns for their safety. The Government showed that Hamas and other terrorist organizations seek out the true identities of ISA agents and their families and publish descriptions of ISA officers on websites so that they can be targeted. The witnesses’ names are thus classified under both Israeli law and American law, and, as noted by the district court, the true identities of the witnesses were provided to United States authorities with the expectation that they would be closely guarded and kept secret. Second, when the national security and safety concerns are balanced against the defendants’ ability to conduct meaningful cross-examination, the scale tips in favor of maintaining the secrecy of the witnesses’ names. The Government disclosed to the defense over twenty volumes of material that Avi used to formulate his expert opinion about Hamas financing. Moreover, the Government agreed in pretrial filings that the defense would be permitted to ask Avi about his background, his training and experience with the ISA, his legal education, and his potential bias in favor of Israelis in the West Bank. The defense was therefore well-armed with information upon which to confront and cross-examine both Avi and Major Lior, and a review of the trial record in fact shows that the defense was able to conduct effective cross-examination. See Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. at 679, 106 S.Ct. 1431 (“‘[T]he Confrontation Clause guarantees an opportunity for effective cross-examination, not cross-examination that is effective in whatever way, and to whatever extent, the defense might wish.’ ”) (citation omitted). As evidence of possible bias, the defense highlighted both witnesses’ close connection to the Israeli military. With respect to Major Lior, the defense focused on the military nature of the Israelis’ seizure of evidence from the zakat committees, and the fact that the military also entered mosques, schools, and orphanages, thereby casting negative light on both the witness and the military operation. The defense also elicited from Major Lior the fact that he did not personally seize the evidence at issue, that he did not know precisely where inside the zakat committees the various items in evidence were found, and that he did not know if any items were left behind in the committees. These questions suggested a lack of knowledge and familiarity with the subject matter, and also suggested that exculpatory evidence may have been overlooked. With respect to the cross-examination of Avi, the defense also was able to ask questions designed to cast doubt on the witness as a biased Israeli security agent. The defense highlighted for the jury the fact that Avi was testifying under an assumed name and that defense counsel could not research him or verify certain opinions. Defense counsel elicited from Avi the fact that he had never been to a zakat committee or spoken to people who had received assistance from the committees, he had not been involved in the seizure of evidence from the committees, and he had not polled Palestinians about the zakat committees. The defense also asked about Avi’s work product and the materials he relied upon in reaching his opinions. The defense challenged Avi’s credibility on the subject of Hamas control of the zakat committees, as well as the basis for his knowledge, by (1) eliciting the fact that no Hamas materials were found in the offices of certain zakat committees that Avi claimed were controlled by Hamas, (2) asking whether he knew that the United States Agency for International Development (“USAID”), a government organization, had given money to and visited a committee that Avi testified was allegedly controlled by Hamas, (3) showing him statements in Government exhibits that indicated a lack of Hamas presence in zakat committees that he said were controlled by Hamas, and (4) asking him questions to demonstrate a lack of knowledge about the internal election proceedings of the zakat committees. We conclude from the above that, although the defense could not verify the witnesses’ credentials, the district court correctly observed that the defendants had access to significant information regarding the witnesses’ employment, nationalities, and backgrounds in order to conduct meaningful cross-examination. They also had access to substantial material that formed the basis for Avi’s expert opinion. With all of this information, the defense was able to probe for bias and test the basis of the witnesses’ knowledge. Because “the jury had sufficient information to appraise the bias and motives of the witness,” there was no Sixth Amendment violation. United States v. Tansley, 986 F.2d 880, 886 (5th Cir.1993). The defendants complain, however, that they were unable to conduct a focused attack on Avi’s and Major Lior’s credibility, and they argue that the witnesses’ true identities could have been disclosed for investigative purposes only to defense counsel under a protective order similar to the order in Celis. We consider this point as part of a prejudice analysis. See Diaz, 637 F.3d at 599 (when there is no Sixth Amendment violation, we “examine whether the trial court’s restrictions on cross-examination were so prejudicial as to result in an abuse of discretion”). We agree with the district court that disclosure of the witnesses’ true names to defense counsel for a limited investigation was unlikely to yield useful information. Because the names of the witnesses were classified, unlike in Celis, it is unlikely that anyone who knew the witnesses’ true names could or would discuss them with defense counsel. The defendants therefore cannot show a reasonable probability that the jury might have assessed the witnesses’ testimony any differently had they been allowed to learn the witnesses’ true identities. See United States v. Davis, 393 F.3d 540, 548 (5th Cir.2004) (holding that to demonstrate prejudice the defendant “must show that a reasonable jury might have had a significantly different impression of the witness’s credibility if defense counsel had been allowed to pursue the questioning”). In light of the danger to Avi’s and Major Lior’s personal safety that could have been caused by disclosure of their true names, and the unlikelihood that the jury would have assessed credibility any differently, the district court’s decision to preclude disclosure of the witnesses’ names was not an abuse of discretion. Under all the circumstances, the defendants had a more than adequate “opportunity to place the witness in his proper setting and put the weight of his testimony and his credibility to a test.” Smith, 390 U.S. at 132, 88 S.Ct. 748; see also Diaz, 637 F.3d at 597; United States v. Abu Marzook, 412 F.Supp.2d 913, 923-24 (N.D.Ill.2006) (holding, in a prosecution for materially supporting Hamas, that ISA agents could testify using pseudonyms because of the classified nature of their true identities, and that doing so did not violate the defendant’s Sixth Amendment confrontation rights because the defendant was free to cross-examine the agents “on the basis of their direct testimony or any other proper basis”). Moreover, the district court instructed the jury that it could consider the witnesses’ use of assumed names when assessing the credibility and weight of the testimony. We therefore hold that the district court did not violate the defendants’ confrontation rights by allowing Avi and Major Lior to testify using pseudonyms. B. Hearsay evidence The defendants contend that the district court improperly admitted the following three categories of hearsay evidence that linked the defendants to Hamas or that linked Hamas to the zakat committees: (1) the testimony of Mohamed Shorbagi, (2) documents seized by the Israeli military from the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority during Operation Defensive Shield, and (3) documents seized from the homes of unindicted co-conspirators Elbarasse and Ashqar. We review the district court’s evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Jackson, 636 F.3d 687, 692 (5th Cir.2011). Before addressing the defendants’ specific evidentiary challenges, we pause to note that the hearsay issue, like the defendants’ other evidentiary issues raised on appeal, is subject to a harmless error analysis if we find there was an error. See id. A reversal will not be warranted unless the defendant shows “that the district court’s ruling caused him substantial prejudice.” United States v. Bishop, 264 F.3d 535, 546 (5th Cir.2001); see Fed.R.Evid. 103(a). Because the defendants have raised on appeal multiple claims of evidentiary error at trial, we first address the evidentiary claims to decide if an error occurred. Except for certain issues related to testimony from John McBrien and Steven Simon, which we will explain below, we then consider in a combined discussion whether any errors we identify may be considered harmless. 1. Mohamed Shorbagi Mohamed Shorbagi was a representative of HLF in Georgia who helped raise funds for the organization. He pleaded guilty in a separate case to providing material support to Hamas through HLF, and he testified in the instant case as part of a plea agreement. Shorbagi testified that Hamas controlled several zakat committees in the West Bank and Gaza to which HLF donated money. He also identified several people associated with the committees as Ha-mas leaders, and he stated that HLF was a part of Hamas. The defendants challenge this testimony as improper hearsay, contending that Shorbagi merely repeated what he had read in newspapers and what he had learned from friends. At one point during his testimony, the Government asked Shorbagi the basis for his knowledge, and he responded: “It came from newspapers, it came from leaflets, it came from Hamas — the internet later on in ’98,-’99, the website of Hamas, and from also talking among friends.” The defendants base their argument on appeal in large part on this exchange. “ ‘Hearsay’ is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” Fed. R. Evid. 801(c). If Shorbagi was merely repeating what he had read or what someone had told him, it would be hearsay and inadmissible. See, e.g., Roberts v. City of Shreveport, 397 F.3d 287, 295 (5th Cir.2005) (newspaper articles are “classic inadmissible hearsay”); see Fed. R.Evid. 802. However, Shorbagi’s testimony is more complicated than that, as a review of the record shows that he possessed personal knowledge of some of the facts to which he testified. A witness’s testimony must be based on personal knowledge. United States v. $92,203.00 in U.S. Currency, 537 F.3d 504, 508 (5th Cir.2008); see Fed. R.Evid. 602 (“A witness may not testify to a matter unless evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that the witness has personal knowledge of the matter.”). The personal knowledge requirement and the hearsay rule “are cut at least in part from the same cloth,” as Rule 602 prevents a witness from testifying about a hearsay statement upon which he has no personal knowledge. United States v. Quezada, 754 F.2d 1190, 1195 (5th Cir.1985). It is axiomatic that a witness may not merely repeat the subject matter of a hearsay statement, nor may he rely on inadmissible hearsay as a substitute for his own knowledge. Id. If the evidence supports a finding that the witness does possess personal knowledge, however, he may testify on that basis. Id. In the instant case, we conclude that Shorbagi’s testimony revealed a close association with and knowledge of HLF and the individual defendants, as well as HLF’s fundraising activity, that demonstrated personal knowledge and made his testimony about HLF’s connection with Hamas admissible. His testimony about Hamas’s control of specific zakat committees is more problematic. After coming to the United States from Gaza to attend college, Shorbagi became a volunteer for several Muslim organizations and attended various conferences sponsored by those organizations around the country. He also helped raise money first for the Occupied Land Fund and then for HLF. He continued to raise funds for HLF when he moved to Rome, Georgia, where he collected donations for HLF as the emam at the mosque and helped coordinate appearances by HLF speakers. Shorbagi testified about attending closed meetings at conferences with some of the individual defendants, as well as with Ha-mas leaders, such as Marzook and Mishal. He personally attended a 1994 meeting with Baker, Elashi, and El-Mezain, where Hamas leader Mishal spoke about Hamas and the role of the attendees in supporting Hamas. Shorbagi explained that a financial sub-committee then met in a break-out session headed by defendant El-Mezain. Shorbagi testified that his personal understanding of the committee’s purpose was to raise money to donate “[t]o organizations controlled or founded by Ha-mas in the occupied territories.” Similarly, Shorbagi was personally present when El-Mezain came to Rome on a fundraising trip accompanied by Mohamed Siam, who was shown by other witnesses to be connected to Hamas. Although Shorbagi’s testimony concerned events that occurred before it became illegal to donate to Ha-mas, the testimony demonstrated that he had inside knowledge and personally knew that HLF’s fundraising aimed to assist Hamas. See United States v. Cantu, 167 F.3d 198, 204 (5th Cir.1999) (“Personal knowledge can include inferences and opinions, so long as they are grounded in personal observation and experience.”) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Shorbagi also had personal knowledge about HLF’s activity after Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization. He testified, for example, that HLF provided money to the same organizations in the West Bank after Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization as before the designation, although he stated that HLF changed its manner of distribution after it opened an office in Gaza. He explained that Baker had stated that money would be sent to the Gaza office for further distribution rather than to specific individuals. Furthermore, Shorbagi testified that the conferences and festivals at which HLF participated changed after Hamas was designated as a terrorist organization insofar as Hamas was no longer mentioned in the songs or speeches. Shorbagi’s testimony was based on personal knowledge, as he continued to represent HLF at fund-raising events during this time. He testified, for example, that he personally participated in fundraising events in Rome and Atlanta in 1999. It is clear from the above testimony that Shorbagi had an adequate basis to testify about HLF’s purpose in raising money to support Hamas. See Quezada, 754 F.2d at 1195 (“[E]ven if testimony is based in part on inadmissible hearsay, Rule 602 will be satisfied if evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that [the witness] has personal knowledge of the matter.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). Whether Shorbagi had knowledge that Hamas controlled certain zakat committees is not as clear. Shorbagi expressly testified that Hamas controlled the zakat committees in Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah, and Hebron, all of which were charged in the indictment as receiving funds from HLF. Shorbagi may very well have personally known that these committees were controlled by Hamas from his activity in raising money for HLF, from attending conferences with the individual defendants, and from meeting various Hamas leaders at the conferences. However, when asked the crucial question as to the basis for this specific knowledge, Shorbagi gave as examples “newspapers,” “leaflets,” the “internet,” and “friends.” These sources constitute classic hearsay rather than personal knowledge. See, e.g., Roberts, 397 F.3d at 295 (newspapers are hearsay); United States v. Jackson, 208 F.3d 633, 637 (7th Cir.2000) (web postings from the Internet were inadmissible hearsay). In an effort to rehabilitate Shorbagi’s answer, the Government asked if the “friends” to which Shorbagi referred were persons who were involved with him in supporting Hamas and organizations like HLF. But Shorbagi’s affirmative response did not transform his apparent reliance on the statements of others, whether they were similarly situated to him or not, into personal knowledge. We therefore conclude that Shorbagi’s testimony that Hamas controlled the zakat committees was hearsay, and it was error for the district court to allow it. We consider below whether the error was harmless. 2. Documents seized from the Palestinian Authority The defendants next challenge on hearsay grounds the admission of three documents (“the PA documents”) seized by the Israeli military in 2002 from the PA headquarters in Ramallah. They are: (1) Government exhibit PA 2, an undated document entitled, “Who is financing Hamas,” that lists HLF as a financial resource for Hamas; (2) Government exhibit PA 8, entitled “Palestinian National Authority General Intelligence Ramallah and al-Bireh Government, Security Work Plan,” a 30-page report indicating that the Ramallah Zakat Committee “has relations with the Islamic Movement” in Israel, which is affiliated with Hamas, and that its leaders and members “are Hamas;” and (3) Government exhibit PA 9, a one-page document dated December 22, 2001, purportedly from Major Khalid Abu-Yaman, Director of Operations, on PA General Security letterhead concerning the Ramallah Zakat Committee and asserting that “Officials and members of this committee are associated with the Hamas Movement and some of them are activists in the Movement.” The PA documents were excluded from the first trial but admitted at the second trial over defense objection under Fed. R.Evid. 807, the residual exception to the hearsay rule. The Government argued that the documents had sufficient indicia of trustworthiness because the Israeli military had seized them from the PA headquarters and they were therefore akin to public records. The district court agreed, noting that the documents were not prepared in advance for litigation purposes and that two of them “appear to have some kind of letterhead.” We conclude that the Government’s justification for admitting the documents was insufficient to prove their trustworthiness, and they should have been excluded from the second trial. Rule 807’s residual hearsay exception allows the admission of hearsay statements that are not covered by another exception if the statements have “equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness” and the district court determines that they are material, probative, and in the interests of justice. See Fed. R.Evid. 807; United States v. Ismoila, 100 F.3d 380, 393 (5th Cir.1996). The district court is given wide latitude in admitting evidence under the rule, and we “will not disturb the district court’s application of the exception absent a definite and firm conviction that the court made a clear error of judgment in the conclusion it reached based upon a weighing of the relevant factors.” United States v. Phillips, 219 F.3d 404, 419 n. 23 (5th Cir.2000) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Nevertheless, the “exception is to be ‘used only rarely, in truly exceptional cases.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). Moreover, “[t]he proponent of the statement bears a heavy burden to come forward with indicia of both trustworthiness and probative force. In order to find a statement trustworthy, a court must find that the declarant of the ... statement ‘was particularly likely to be telling the truth when the statement was made.’ ” Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). We therefore focus on the “equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness” requirement, which is the “lodestar of the residual hearsay exception analysis.” United States v. Walker, 410 F.3d 754, 758 (5th Cir.2005). The determination of trustworthiness is “drawn from the totality of the circumstances surrounding the making of the statement, but [it] cannot stem from other corroborating evidence.” Ismoila, 100 F.3d at 393 (citing Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 820-22, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990)). “[E]vidence possessing ‘particularized guarantees of trustworthiness’ must be at least as reliable as evidence admitted under a firmly rooted hearsay exception ... [and] must similarly be so trustworthy that adversarial testing would add little to its reliability.” Wright, 497 U.S. at 821, 110 S.Ct. 3139 (citations omitted). As it argued to the district court, the Government maintains on appeal that the PA documents are reliable and trustworthy because they are essentially public records, which ordinarily are admissible under Rule 803(8). It is therefore proper to measure the PA documents against the requirements of the public records exception. See 2 Kenneth S. Broun, McCormick on Evid. § 324 (6th ed.) (noting that for purposes of Rule 807 “courts frequently compare the circumstances surrounding the statement to the closest hearsay exception”); see also United States v. Wilson, 249 F.3d 366, 375-76 (5th Cir.2001) (holding that, although foreign bank records were not admissible under the business records exception because there was no custodian available to testify, the district court properly admitted the documents under Rule 807 because “bank documents, like other business records, provide circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness because the banks and their customers rely on their accuracy in the course of business”), abrogated on other grounds by Whitfield v. United States, 543 U.S. 209, 125 S.Ct. 687, 160 L.Ed.2d 611 (2005). The public records exception to the hearsay rule “is designed to permit the admission into evidence of public records prepared for purposes independent of specific litigation.” Quezada, 754 F.2d at 1194. It is based on the notion that public records are reliable because there is a “lack of ... motivation on the part of the recording official to do other than mechanically register an unambiguous factual matter.” Id.; see also Moss v. Ole South Real Estate, Inc., 933 F.2d 1300, 1308 (5th Cir.1991) (explaining that the public records hearsay exception is premised on “public officials doing their legal duties,” such that the usual “distrust” of statements made by out-of-court declarants does not apply). The Government contends that the PA documents have sufficient circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness as public documents under Rule 803(8)(A) and 803(8)(B) because the facts in the documents merely represent “activities of the office” or “matters observed pursuant to duty.” The matters reported in the PA documents have nothing to do with the PA’s own activity, but rather describe the activities and financing of Hamas. Therefore, the guarantee of trustworthiness associated with a public agency merely recording its own actions is not present. See Rule 803(8)(A). Moreover, the conclusions stated in the PA documents are not the kind of objective factual matters we have found to be reliable under Rule 803(8)(B) when reported as a matter of course. See, e.g., Quezada, 754 F.2d at 1194 (holding that deportation record containing date and location of deportation was reliable under Rule 803(8)(B) because the document contained a “routine, objective observation[ ], made as part of the everyday function of the preparing official”); United States v. Dancy, 861 F.2d 77, 79-80 (5th Cir.1988) (finding that fingerprint card containing defendant’s fingerprints, physical description, sentence, and prison reporting date admissible under Rule 803(8)(B)); United States v. Puente, 826 F.2d 1415, 1417 (5th Cir.1987) (holding that computer printouts showing that vehicle crossed the border at a specific time were reliable under Rule 803(8)(B) because license plate number was observed and recorded by customs officer complying with agency directives and procedures that were adopted to carry out its legal duty to protect the border). Instead, the PA documents contain conclusions about Hamas control of the Ramallah Zakat Committee and the sources of Ha-mas financing that were reached through unknown evaluative means. This leads to a larger problem with the documents: there is nothing known about the circumstances under which the documents were created, the duty of the authors to prepare such documents, the procedures and methods used to reach the stated conclusions, and, in the case of two of the documents, the identities of the authors. See, e.g., United States v. Vidacak, 553 F.3d 344, 351 (4th Cir.2009) (holding that records seized from a brigade headquarters showing that the defendant had served in the Serbian army were admissible as public records where a witness testified about the documents’ seizure and explained how the army maintained and organized its records pursuant to specific procedures); United States v. Dumeisi, 424 F.3d 566, 575-77 (7th Cir.2005) (holding Iraqi intelligence documents admissible under Rule 807 where witnesses positively identified the documents, as well as handwriting, symbols, codes, abbreviations, and signatures on them, and also testified that the officers had a duty to accurately record their activities and information received from other sources). We know only that the PA documents were found in the possession of the PA. Although Avi testified that the PA had an interest in monitoring Hamas and the zakat committees, there is nothing in the documents or the record that reveals whether the declarants had firsthand knowledge of the information reported, where or how they obtained the information, and whether there was a legal duty to report the matter. See United States v. Cent. Gulf Lines, Inc., 974 F.2d 621, 626 & n. 10 (5th Cir.1992) (holding that for evidence to be admissible under public records hearsay exception, person making report must have observed matters first hand and acted pursuant to a legal duty); United States v. Perlmuter, 693 F.2d 1290, 1293-94 (9th Cir.1982) (same); see also 4 Christopher B. Mueller & Laird C. Kirkpatrick, Fed. Evid. § 8:88 (3d ed.) (for public records falling under Rule 803(8)(B) “the source of the recorded information must have personal knowledge, as the phrase ‘matters observed’ implies”). For example, nothing is known or can be inferred about the author of PA 2, which is not on official letterhead and contains an illegible signature. The document also contains apparent double hearsay because it refers vaguely to unnamed “Western Sources,” “security experts,” and “western security organizations.” PA 8 is on plain paper with a spiral binding and contains no certifications, signatures, letterhead, official seals, or other indicia of official record keeping, except for a notation that vaguely reads, “Prepared by: The Operation Room.” It contains nothing further about where the reported information was obtained. PA 9 is on letterhead and identifies the declarant, but it contains only conclusory statements with no explanation of how or why the document was created. The Government argues that the PA had a “strong incentive” to report accurate information about Hamas. There is no doubt that may be true, but the Government points to nothing in the record about the PA’s practice of record keeping. There is also nothing in the documents or the record showing that the declarants in these documents were especially likely to be telling the truth. See Phillips, 219 F.3d at 419 n. 23. We therefore cannot say that there was little to gain from further adversarial testing. Without further information about the circumstances under which the PA documents were created, we are faced with conclusory assertions amounting to classic hearsay and no facts from which to divine the documents’ reliability. We realize that when dealing with foreign documents, it may not be possible for the Government to learn every detail about the evidence, especially when it has been seized in a military operation. We do not foreclose the possibility that obtaining documents in such a manner from an adversary may have some probative value and could, at least under some circumstances, be indicative of trustworthiness. But the instant documents were not offered merely for them probative value, and their seizure from the PA, without more, does not impart sufficient indicia of trustworthiness in this case to permit their admission. We do not even know, for example, if the PA created PA 2 and PA 8, or whether the documents were created by some third person or agency and were merely collected by the PA as intelligence. See, e.g., United States v. Doyle, 130 F.3d 523, 547 (2d Cir.1997) (questioning reliability of “privately-generated, business records without further foundation, even though the records were found in the possession of a foreign government agency”). We therefore conclude that the district court erred in finding that the PA documents contained sufficient indicia of trustworthiness pursuant to Rule 807’s residual hearsay exception. 3. Elbarasse and Ashqar documents Finally, the defendants raise a hearsay challenge to the admission of documents discovered in the homes of unindicted co-conspirators Ismail Elbarasse and Abdelhaleen Masan Ashqar (together “the Elbarasse and Ashqar documents”). The documents, which dated from the late 1980s and early 1990s, were discovered by the FBI pursuant to search warrants. They included annual reports, meeting agendas and minutes, financial records, work papers, and telephone directories that documented th