Indicted GOP lawmaker wanted to be 'ambassador to Islam' David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Thursday January 17, 2008



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Print This Email This Fox News is doing its best to arouse sympathy for a former Republican Congressman who has been charged in connection with his lobbying work for an Islamic charity accused of funding an Afghan terrorist leader. The coverage of Rep. Mark Siljander's indictment on Fox & Friends never mentioned his party affiliation, but featured his former aide, a conservative commentator who regularly appears on Fox, expressing her shock and disbelief and suggesting explanations for his actions. Debbie Schlussel is now best known for her attacks on Islam and Islamic culture, but twenty years ago, when she was an "Outstanding Teen Age Republican," she served as an aide to Siljander. "It's heartbreaking," Schlussel stated, "because when I worked for Mark Siljander, he was probably the most anti-Islamist Congressman on the Hill. He was the one who most understood the jihadist threat, decades before 9/11. ... His chief of staff had served in the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces. ... I am shocked beyond belief." When asked about Siljander's possible motivations, Schlussel replied, "He was an evangelical born-again Christian, and I think he saw himself as an ambassador of Christianity to other religions and to the Middle East. ... I think that maybe he had bigger ideas, that he could be this ambassador to Islam. But I think he kind of let himself go off the deep end by working for this charity. ... I think he must have needed the money." What makes Schlussel's situation particularly ironic is her own background of acute controversy. She has been accused of "racist hate speech" by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and often claims to have received death threats for her views. A year ago, Schlussel provoked a storm of outrage with a column titled "Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always A Muslim," which exaggerated the Muslim elements in Obama's family background and called his loyalties to the United States into question.

This video is from Fox's Fox & Friend's, broadcast January 17, 2008.









