In 2014, the NCCM sued former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his spokesman Jason MacDonald for defamation for alleging that the organization had "documented ties" to Hamas, a designated terrorist group in Canada.[3] In February 2015, Jason MacDonald was questioned under oath in the defamation case and Stephen Harper claimed parliamentary privilege to avoid testifying.[4] That same month, MacDonald resigned as the Prime Minister's communications director.[5] In March 2017, in a publicly announced settlement of the libel lawsuit, Jason MacDonald admitted that his statements regarding the NCCM were inaccurate.[6] The Government of Canada also issued a statement "disavowing MacDonald's suggestion that the council had terrorist ties."[7]