Mainstream wire services and the large newspapers are pretty much ignoring the Holy Land Foundation trial in Dallas—and obviously not because it’s boring.

Yesterday Dallas Morning News reporter Steve McGonigle testified about a surprise visit he paid to the office of the Holy Land Foundation in Gaza: Counterterrorism Blog: An Unexpected Guest.

A visitor stopped by the Gaza office of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) in December 1999. It was Dallas Morning News reporter Steve McGonigle, who was reporting about alleged links between the Richardson, Tex.-based charity and Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. government four years earlier.

McGonigle testified about that trip on Monday in the material support trial of the HLF and five of its officials. HLF officials did not know he was coming to Gaza, McGonigle said, and telephone calls between HLF officials in Gaza and Texas that prosecutors played seem to confirm that. McGonigle didn’t realize it, but his unannounced visit created a bit of a stir.

McGonigle wanted to meet families helped by HLF charities. The men on the phone calls, including HLF Chief Executive Shukri Abu Bakr, agreed not to take him to families of prisoners or martyrs.

McGonigle had already interviewed two Hamas founders, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Mahmud al-Zahar, who told McGonigle they knew nothing about HLF. “I was skeptical of what [Yassin] was telling me,” he testified.

Earlier, an outburst from defendant Ghassan Elashi triggered a warning from U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish. Elashi began yelling loudly just after the court recessed for a morning break.

It wasn’t clear what Elashi said, but it came as an Israeli government agent, testifying under the pseudonym “Avi” was being cross examined. Suddenly, Elashi began hollering angrily, first toward a defense attorney and then continuing as he was led out of the courtroom. Elashi is in custody, having already been convicted in 2005 of money laundering and dealing with a specially designated terrorist – Hamas political leader Mousa Abu Marzook, through his computer company called Infocom.

Later, Judge Fish said he was told Elashi’s outburst happened as the jury was leaving the courtroom and the statements were to the effect that “this trial an extension of the Zionist conspiracy or something to that effect.”

“We cannot have outbursts like that that could disrupt the trial,” Fish said. While the rules of criminal procedure grant defendants the right to be present at trial, that right can be withdrawn if Elashi is disruptive. “Further outbursts like that will not be tolerated,” Fish said. Elashi did not respond. To reinforce the point, Fish addressed him directly: “Mr. Elashi, I am looking at you. Do you understand what I just said?” Elashi appeared to acknowledge the court at that point.

Also at Counterterrorism Blog, the Investigative Project responds to CAIR’s distortion-riddled request to be removed from the list of unindicted co-conspirators: CAIR’s Reputation and Incredibly Fluctuating Membership Roll.