CNN 2012-08-03

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Now, we've reported on this numerous times over the last couple weeks. And because we have, I have already had some people and some groups start to point fingers at me and say I'm, at best, ignorant or naive⁵ and, at worst, aiding and abetting（教唆犯） Islamic extremists.

 

 

 

Now, for the record, unlike many of those who are making these accusations⁶, I have actually interviewed members of the Muslim Brotherhood. I have seen radical Islamists up close in Afghanistan and Bosnia, Egypt, Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere.

 

 

 

I have seen the horrible things they have done overseas and in this country as well. In fact, later in the broadcast, we're going to look at the role foreign jihadists are playing in Syria right now.

 

 

 

I'm not defending radical jihadists, nor am I naive to their intentions or beliefs. But what I am focusing on tonight is sitting members of Congress, people in important positions of power, who are pointing fingers at individuals working in the government, making allegations or spreading innuendoes(暗讽、隐喻) about them without any direct evidence. They're dragging people's names and reputations through the mud.

 

 

 

These are the five members of Congress who we're talking about Michele Bachmann, Trent Franks, Louie Gohmert, Thomas Rooney and Lynn Westmoreland. And over the weekend they got a new and powerful ally, it seems, Newt Gingrich.

 

 

 

In an op-ed written for Politico, he refers to Congresswoman Bachmann and the others as the "national security five." He blames American elites⁷ for being blinded by political correctness(政治正确)to the threat.

 

 

 

"The level of self-deception（自欺） necessary to misunderstand the Muslim Brotherhood," Newt Gingrich writes, "verges⁸ on（接近） a psychosis(精神错乱).”He goes on, "The national security five are doing their duty in asking difficult questions designed to make America safer." "Asking the difficult questions," he says. Now, remember that phrase. He says that critics of the five represent, in his words, the kind of willful blindness that puts America at risk.

 

 

 

"Keeping Them Honest," though, we think you deserve a look at the people they have been targeting and the tactics they have been using. Now, they have named these two in letters asking federal inspectors⁹ general to investigate Muslim Brotherhood infiltration¹⁰.

 

 

 

On the left is a man named Mohamed Elibiary, a member of President Obama's Homeland Security Advisory¹¹ Council. On the right is Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

 

 

 

Now, we learned late last week that both have received threats since being named. Now, some top Republicans have risen to Miss Abedin's defense¹².

 

 

 

These allegations about Huma Abedin and the report from which they are drawn¹³ are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated¹⁴ American and a loyal public servant.

 

 

 

Now the Bachmann Five cite a Web site that claims to connect Miss Abedin to the Muslim Brotherhood in the following very convoluted(旋转的、费解的) way, through an organization her late father started decades ago which have allegedly had the support of another guy who had another organization that might have had the support of another organization the Muslim Brotherhood. The Web site also makes allegations against her brother and mother.

 

 

 

Now as a top aide to the Secretary of State, Miss Abedin has a security clearance（安全调查） and as such has undergone extensive background checks. Mr. Elibiary was extensively investigated and cleared by Homeland Security Officials when the allegations against him first surfaced months ago.

 

 

 

Now, last fall, the FBI gave Elibiary an award for quote "his extraordinary contributions to specific cases in support of the FBI's counterterrorism（反恐主义） mission." And Homeland Security denies any Muslim Brotherhood penetration¹⁵ of their department.

 

 

 

“We have looked into it. The FBI looked into it. We have found no credible¹⁶ evidence that such infiltration is going on.”

 

 

 

Again, neither Congresswoman Bachmann nor her four colleagues have actually provided credible evidence, just insinuations(暗示、暗讽). Today, all five again refused to come on this program and backed up（support） their allegations. We've asked them, five times and each time they have all refused. Instead of evidence what they keep saying is they're not really making allegations at all, just asking questions. Remember, Newt Gingrich also said so in his Politico piece and said so again today.

 

 

 

“I think all they asked for was an investigation¹⁷. Who's offering this advice to Secretary Clinton? I think it's totally legitimate¹⁸ to ask that question.”

 

 

 

See, no one is alleging¹⁹ anything, only asking questions. Here's Mitt²⁰ Romney's adviser²¹, John Bolton.

 

 

 

“What I think these members of Congress have done is simply raise the question.”

 

 

 

Just raising questions, when asked by CBS' Charlie Rose on Friday whether he thought Congresswoman Bachmann was out of line, House majority leader Eric Cantor said no.

 

 

 

“If you read some of the reports that have covered the story, I think that her concern was about the security of the country.”

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