After Saba Ahmed, a Muslim law student from American University, asked a question at the Benghazi Accountability Coalition panel hosted by the Heritage Foundation on Monday, Ahmed became a standard-bearer for liberal media outlets - but it turns out Ahmed is more than just a law student. She is also a "family friend" of a violent jihadi.

A little background:

On Monday, Ahmed asked the Benghazi Accountability Coalition panel: "How can we ever end this war?" She pointed out the number of Muslims in the world, and said that "How can we ever end this thing if we don't address it ideologically?"

Brigitte Gabriel gave an impassioned answer which received a standing ovation. First, she pointed out that the panel was there to talk about Benghazi: "We are not here to bash Muslims. You were the one who brought up the issue about 'most Muslims' - not us. But since you brought it up, allow me to elaborate with my answer." Gabriel then pointed to many examples from history where violent minorities have imposed their will on peaceful majorities.

Dana Milbank from the Washington Post was in attendance and he wrote an "opinion" piece saying that the panel "deteriorated into the ugly taunting of a woman in the room who wore an Islamic head covering" and said that Ahmed was subjected to "ugly" "taunts by the panelists and the crowd."

Politico's Dylan Byers wrote that "Milbank grossly misrepresented the nature of that exchange" when video of the event emerged, even calling Milbank's piece a "disaster."

Milbank defends himself by calling Politico's piece a "reporting disaster" and Byers an "armchair" journalist, because Byers wasn't in attendance at the panel.

Well, I was there - and I transcribed exactly what was said in my piece. There was no taunting of Ahmed - in fact she received applause when she said that she represented the "Muslim peace movement."

But liberals are circling the wagons. Salon penned a piece titled: "The Right's Hateful Freak Show: Dana Milbank vs. Heritage Foundation's Abuse." NY Mag wrote a piece about the same incident called: "Real-Life Muslims Like Saba Ahmed Pose an Existential Threat to Hate Groups."

So, who is Saba Ahmed? It turns out that Ahmed is a "family friend" of Somali-American Mohamed Mohamud, the 19-year-old who in 2010 tried to ignite a car bomb at a Christmas tree lighting in Portland, Oregon.

According to an undercover FBI agent, Mohamud said he’d been thinking of committing “some form of violent jihad since the age of 15” and “was looking for a ‘huge mass that will be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays.’”

At the time, The Oregonion reported that Ahmed blames Holder's Justice Department for:

... inciting violence, pointing out that the mosque that Mohamed is said to have attended in Corvallis was torched on Saturday in possible retaliation. "This is very irresponsible behavior because now the Muslim community is the one suffering the consequences," she said.

Mohamud was found guilty by a jury of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and is being held in a federal prison pending sentencing.

This revelation of Ahmed's friendship makes Gabriel's question to Ahmed - asking why Ahmed was talking about Muslims, when the panel had gathered to talk about four dead Americans in Benghazi - much more pointed.

I have a question for Saba Ahmed - why are you friends with this violent jihadi?