Mayor: 'No reason' for mosque finance probe

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says an investigation by the state attorney general into the finances of the proposed $100 million Islamic community center and mosque near Ground Zero would set “a terrible precedent.” Bloomberg says there’s no reason for the government to investigate donations to religious organizations.

U.S. Rep. Peter King disagrees. The ranking minority leader of the Homeland Security Committee says “a number” of terror plots have “emanated from mosques.”

He cited the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center as an example.

The mayor made the remarks Tuesday after he was asked about a Quinnipiac University poll showing 71 percent of New Yorkers want the state attorney general to investigate funding sources for the project in lower Manhattan.