U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., was named Thursday to the citizens advisory board of an Ann Arbor-based legal center that fights for conservative Christian causes.

The appointment of Bachmann, who dropped out of the presidential primary in January, brings another high-profile conservative to the Thomas More Law Center, which increasingly has focused on Islam in recent years. In May, the center named U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., whose views also have sparked controversy, to the advisory board.

"I am pleased to join forces with the Thomas More Law Center," Bachmann said Thursday. "They are in the courts aggressively fighting the internal threat to America posed by radical Islam."

Richard Thompson, the center's president and chief counsel, said that Bachmann "puts country before politics."

"She understands the threat of radical Islam," Thompson said. "We share her concerns regarding the stealth jihad that's being perpetrated against the United States."

Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said that Bachmann is a "perfect fit" for the board. "Since Michigan has been a target of nationwide of anti-Islam campaigns, it makes sense that Bachmann would join a Michigan-based group ... openly hostile to the Islamic faith."

Detroit Free Press, 4 August 2012

The Thomas More Law Center has acted on behalf of mad Pamela Geller and Qur'an-burning pastor Terry Jones, whose loopy views it entirely shares.

In an interview with WorldNetDaily earlier this year Richard Thompson stated: "Islam is more than a religion. It is a political ideology that regulates every aspect of human existence and calls for the Islamic domination of the world. Since radical Muslims know they can never defeat our military on the battlefield, they devised the strategy of internal subversion."

He added: "Like the ancient Trojan Horse welcomed within the city's gates, Islam has entered America disguised as a religion. But its ultimate objective is political: Destroy America and establish an Islamic nation under Shariah law. So while America sleeps, they are awake and subverting our government, as well as our public schools and universities. And we will not be deterred from our efforts to stop them."

See also Alex Seitz-Wald, "Keith Ellison slams Bachmann's 'galling' witch hunt", Salon, 4 August 2012

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Forty-two religious and secular organizations united on Thursday in condemning conservative lawmakers' allegations that Muslim-American individuals connected to the U.S. government may be trying to spread the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.

They directed their criticisms at Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), who recently wrote to various government agencies and asked them to investigate the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood. In their letters, the lawmakers targeted top State Department official Huma Abedin and several advisers to the Department of Homeland Security.

"[W]e write to raise our voices in protest of your recent letters regarding prominent American Muslim individuals and organizations," the 42 organizations wrote in a letter to the lawmakers on Thursday. "These letters question the loyalty of faithful Americans based on nothing more than their religious affiliations and what is at best tenuous evidence of their associations. As such, your actions have serious implications for religious freedom and the health of our democracy."

The signatories include the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which often sides with Republicans on social issues, along with the Interfaith Alliance, American Civil Liberties Union, American Baptist Churches USA, NAACP and United Church of Christ.

Huffington Post, 26 July 2012

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Michele Bachmann with Frank GaffneyMichele Bachmann thinks the Muslim Brotherhood has made "deep penetration" into the U.S. government, and she wants five federal agencies to launch an investigation into its influence.

And you thought McCarthyism was a relic of the 1950s!

In a June interview with radio host Sandy Rios, Bachmann said: "It appears that there has been deep penetration in the halls of our United States government by the Muslim Brotherhood... that there are individuals who are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood who have positions, very sensitive positions, in our Department of Justice, our Department of Homeland Security, potentially even in the National Intelligence Agency."

Following that interview, Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim himself, said that "if [Bachmann] has sources for this type of information, she owes it to the country to reveal them to the proper authorities, but definitely not in this way... if she doesn't have this type of information, she should not be whipping up fear and hysteria about a very important manner."

But Bachmann is now naming names. Late last month, she sent letters to the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, State, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence raising concerns about Muslim Brotherhood infiltration.

The St. Cloud Times provides details of Bachmann's letters, which are cosigned by four other Republican Representatives:

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."

CityPages, 10 July 2012

Copies of the letters from Bachmann and her fellow witch-hunters can also be consulted here: the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State.

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