Has the Muslim Brotherhood permeated the United States government? U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann wants federal investigators to find out.
The St. Cloud Times has chronicled the 6th District Republican’s recent efforts to determine if the Muslim Brotherhood has influence over policy makers in the Obama administration. The Brotherhood is considered one of most influential Islamist movements in the world; the new president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, is a member.
Bachmann and four other Republican lawmakers recently wrote the inspectors general of five federal departments asking them to compile a report on its influence in the United States.
Bachmann reportedly told a radio host last month, “It appears that there has been deep penetration in the halls of our United States government by the Muslim Brotherhood.” In her letters — sent to the Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence — Bachmann and her co-signers delineate their concerns, thusly, according to the Times:
The letter to the State Department singles out Huma Abedin, a deputy chief of staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and asserts that three of Abedin’s family members are connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. It says Abedin’s position affords her access to Clinton, and adds that the department has “taken actions recently that have been enormously favorable to the Muslim Brotherhood and its interests.”
The letter to the Department of Defense charges the U.S. Army with failing to “characterize accurately the jihadist motivations” of Major Nidal Hassan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter.
The letter to the Department of Homeland Security says the department has developed a lexicon, or official vocabulary, that obscures America’s jihadist threat.
“Its approved words effectively equate those perpetrating this threat with ones said to arise from ‘Christian patriots,’ ‘constitutionalists’ and ‘militia extremists,’ ” the letter said.
Here’s the letter the lawmakers wrote to the Department of State:
A spokesman for the Office of National Intelligence told the Times he expects a response to the letter soon.
Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com.
