The Council on American Islamic Relations says it was spied upon. By an intern. Who assumed a false name. And who happened to be the son of an author investigating the organization.

This is heavy. Or bizarre. Or both. But this week, in what strikes Suits & Sentences as a rather extraordinary step, CAIR secured a temporary restraining order that compels blogger and author Paul David Gaubatz to remove certain internal CAIR documents and information from his web site. Gaubatz is author of "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America." The TRO issued by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also imposes other limitations on Gaubatz's use of material evidently obtained covertly from CAIR.

Gaubatz is the father of Chris Gaubatz. According to the complaint, Chris Gaubatz worked as a CAIR intern from April through August 2008. But in order to get the internship, the complaint states, Chris Gaubatz adopted the name "David Marshall." As the judge noted:

"CAIR alleges that he did so with the express purpose of spying on CAIR and other Muslim organizations."

CAIR further alleges that Chris Gaubatz "removed more than 12,000 internal, sensitive documents — including documents marked for confidential treatment with such designations as “Company Proprietary” and “Not for Distribution-For Board Members Only” as well as attorney-client privileged documents — without CAIR’s consent or authorization and delivered those documents to Defendant Paul David Gaubatz."

Paul David Gaubatz subsequently used the internal documents in "Muslim Mafia" and his blog, the lawsuit claims. This is not just some Dorito-eater, either. As TPMMuckraker has previously reported, Gaubatz's work was cited by conservative Republicans earlier this year in their call for an investigation of CAIR.

The TRO is set to last through Nov. 18.