John McCain defends Hillary Clinton aide accused of links to Muslim Brotherhood
John McCain yesterday rushed to the defence of one of Hillary Clinton's top aides, lashing out at fellow Republicans who accused the Muslim staffer of having links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
John McCain stepped in to defend a Hillary Clinton aide Photo: Reuters
Breaking ranks with his party, the veteran Republican
took to the Senate floor to condemn the "sinister accusations" made by
Michelle Bachmann and others against Huma Adebin, Mrs Clinton's Deputy Chief
of Staff.
He called the allegations "an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable
woman, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant".
Mrs Bachmann, the former Republican presidential hopeful, and four other House
members had written to the State Department claiming that America's foreign
policy was being influenced by the supporters of the Islamist group.
In a letter that drew comparisons to the McCarthyite anti-Communist witch
hunts of the 1950s, the group demanded an investigation into possible Muslim
Brotherhood infiltration of the State Department and called for anyone found
with links to the group to be made to "publicly condemn and disclaim" its
goals.
They also singled out Ms Adebin, a Muslim born in Michigan, claiming that her father, mother and brother had been "connected" to the Brotherhood. As evidence they cited a document produced by the Centre for Security Policy, a controversial ultra-conservative think tank.
Ms Adebin has been at Mrs Clinton's side for more than a decade, and regularly travels with the Secretary of State on diplomatic missions around the world. Mrs Clinton has described the Arabic and Urdu speaker as a "second daughter".
Last year Ms Adebin's husband, the Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner, was forced to resign after admitting sending naked pictures of himself to other women.
Yesterday, Mr McCain condemned the insinuations, saying: "These sinister accusations rest solely on a few unspecified and unsubstantiated associations of members of Huma’s family, none of which have been shown to harm or threaten the United States in any way. These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis, and no merit. And they need to stop now."
He added: "When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it."
His brief speech in defence of a Democrat evoked a time of more genteel Senate traditions and won praise from both sides of the aisle even as Congress remained hopelessly deadlocked on issues from immigration to the budget deficit.
Mrs Bachmann, defended her letter yesterday in the face of an attack from a member of her own party saying her intentions had been "distorted".
"The intention of the letters was to outline the serious national security concerns I had and ask for answers to questions regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical groups' access to top Obama administration officials ," she said in a statement.
They also singled out Ms Adebin, a Muslim born in Michigan, claiming that her father, mother and brother had been "connected" to the Brotherhood. As evidence they cited a document produced by the Centre for Security Policy, a controversial ultra-conservative think tank.
Ms Adebin has been at Mrs Clinton's side for more than a decade, and regularly travels with the Secretary of State on diplomatic missions around the world. Mrs Clinton has described the Arabic and Urdu speaker as a "second daughter".
Last year Ms Adebin's husband, the Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner, was forced to resign after admitting sending naked pictures of himself to other women.
Yesterday, Mr McCain condemned the insinuations, saying: "These sinister accusations rest solely on a few unspecified and unsubstantiated associations of members of Huma’s family, none of which have been shown to harm or threaten the United States in any way. These attacks on Huma have no logic, no basis, and no merit. And they need to stop now."
He added: "When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it."
His brief speech in defence of a Democrat evoked a time of more genteel Senate traditions and won praise from both sides of the aisle even as Congress remained hopelessly deadlocked on issues from immigration to the budget deficit.
Mrs Bachmann, defended her letter yesterday in the face of an attack from a member of her own party saying her intentions had been "distorted".
"The intention of the letters was to outline the serious national security concerns I had and ask for answers to questions regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical groups' access to top Obama administration officials ," she said in a statement.
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