Ex-Lawmaker Charged in Terror Conspiracy

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Siljander, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw36mXsH7fbogLzqW06NU31aQAmgD8U75UU83

---

Defunct Columbia, Mo., charity accused of sending money to Afghan terrorist

<snip>

The indictment, returned early this afternoon, also accuses a former U.S. congressman of money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

The new charges were added to an earlier indictment that charged the Islamic American Relief Agency and several of its officers with sending money to Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s reign in violation of U.S. sanctions.

<snip>

The new charges also accuse Mark Deli Siljander, who represented Michigan in Congress from 1981-1987, of receiving $50,000 from the charity in 2004. Siljander, who operates a Washington D.C. public relations firm, was hired to lobby Congress to remove the charity from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of non-profit organizations suspected of being involved in supporting international terrorism.

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/447332.html

[sabra]

1. k & r

[maddezmom]

2. his company website: Global Stategies, Inc

http://www.gsi.cc/about.html

[Lone_Star_Dem]

15. I wonder if Ms. Allison Siljander from accounting/bookkeeping is related?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say she is.

[RamboLiberal]

3. K&R - Hah a Republican

We would hear no end of it if he was a Democrat!

[Wetzelbill]

14. oh no kidding nt

[meow2u3]

4. Ex-lawmaker charged in terror conspiracy

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

ADVERTISEMENT

The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Siljander, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_go_co/ex_congressman_indicted;_ylt=Agw95wMnfcOouOpxGBZbaUms0NUE

---

And the Republicans call Democrats terrorists?! :wtf:

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. How do I nominate someone for the Weekly Ten?

Republickers aiding and abetting known terrorists. Color me unsurprised. :eyes:

[gateley]

6. I hope this gets LOTS of coverage. nt

[TechBear_Seattle]

7. What is Siljander's religion?

The Wikipedia article on him has only this to say on the matter:

Siljander takes an interest in conflict resolution, particularly in the Islamic world, and in recent years has tried to publicize the common ground between Christianity and Islam, particularly in the portrayal of Jesus in the Qur'an. This is a turnaround from a previous position in which he objected to the Qur'an being read at a prayer breakfast, asking the emcee: "How can you read the book of the devil at a prayer breakfast?" (1) He is widely traveled, and claims to have visited over 120 countries.(2) Siljander is also one of the few American politicians to have visited Libya in recent years.

His comment about the Quran being "the book of the devil" and his attendance at prayer breakfasts would indicate that he is a typical Republicker Bible-thumper. So why was he raising money for the Islamic American Relief Agency?

[louis-t]

8. Cuz there was money in it.

Duh.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. How silly of me

He is a Republicker, after all: There is no God but Mammon.

[ck4829]

10. He couldn't have been a Muslim, since Ellison was the first Muslim in Congress

[cascadiance]

11. He's not Muslim, unless he's a "closet" Muslim...

Given that we have closet gays in the Republican party as an epidemic, it wouldn't surprise me.

But Keith Ellison has long been championed as the first Muslim congressman elected to the House...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/08/muslim.elect/

[Binka]

16. Just Like The Deeply Closeted Gay Repukes

I'll bet anything this guy is a solid Muslim and he just spewed the Bible thumping shit to solidify his love for ALL THINGS JESUS. It happens all the time when people hide their true identities. "Me Think Doth Protest Too Much" the Bard said.

[maddezmom]

12. some interesting links here and his ties to Moon

http://www.lnsart.com/Bali_and_Indonesian_trip.htm

http://www.publiceye.org/ifas/fw/9203/siljander.html

http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/051017siljander.html

[Cooley Hurd]

32. Moon, Libya and partnered with this winner (also a fmr repug congressman)...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_McEwen

Robert D. "Bob" McEwen (born January 12, 1950) is an American politician of the Republican Party, who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from southern Ohio's Sixth District, from January 3, 1981 to January 3, 1993. Tom Deimer of Cleveland's Plain Dealer described him as a "textbook Republican" who is "opposed to abortion, gun control, high taxes, and costly government programs." In the House, he criticized government incompetence and charged corruption by the Democratic majority that ran the House in the 1980s. McEwen, who had easily won three terms in the Ohio House, was elected to Congress at the age of thirty to replace a retiring representative in 1980 and easily won re-election five times.

After a bruising primary battle with another incumbent whose district was combined with his, in which McEwen faced charges of bouncing checks on the House bank, he narrowly lost the 1992 general election to Democrat Ted Strickland. Following an unsuccessful run in the adjacent Second District in 1993, McEwen was largely absent from the Ohio political scene for a decade, until in 2005 he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress in the Second District special election to replace Rob Portman, who beat him in 1993, and finished second to the winner in the general election, Jean Schmidt. McEwen's 2005 platform was familiar from his past campaigns, advocating a pro-life stance, defending Second Amendment rights, and promising to limit taxes and government spending. In 2006, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in the Second District.
<snip>

House banking scandal
McEwen was caught up in the House banking scandal, which had been seized upon by Newt Gingrich, a like-minded conservative House Republican, as an example of the corruption of Congress; members of the House had been allowed to write checks on their accounts, which were paid despite insufficient funds and without penalty. Martin Gottlieb of the Dayton Daily News said "McEwen was collateral damage" to Gingrich's crusade.<30> McEwen initially denied bouncing any checks. Later, he admitted he had bounced a few. Then when the full totals were released by Ethics Committee investigators, the number was revealed to have been 166 over thirty-nine months. McEwen said that he always had funds available to cover the alleged overdrafts, pointing to the policy of the House sergeant at arms, who ran the House bank, paying checks on an overdrawn account if it would not exceed the sum of the Representative's next paycheck.<31> In 1991, McEwen had also been criticized for his use of the franking privilege and his frequent trips overseas at taxpayer expense, but McEwen defended the trips as part of his work on the Intelligence Committee and in building relationships with legislatures overseas.
<snip>

One of those republicans...:eyes:

[Divine Discontent]

38. Well, he sounds like a PAWN for the neocons

and he was probably being used by the republicons to do their dirty work. that or he's one of them terror cell guys. of course, he's a republican, that doesn't surprise me in the least - they love to wave the flag.

[geardaddy]

21. Well, since Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected...

to the House, I would guess by that fact and your post from the article that he isn't Muslim.

[Bobbieo]

23. I don't know about his religion but he is of Finnish extraction as if that made any difference

when money is involved.

[TheCowsCameHome]

35. He's Finnished, all right....................

[Catch22Dem]

30. Republican (n/t)

[TheCowsCameHome]

33. Siljander's religion? Republican - they worship themselves

[FreepFryer]

13. Wow. So now a former REPUB Congressman has been arrested for supporting the terrorists...

Can that old 'Democrats want the terrorists to win' lie be retired now?

[Wapsie B]

47. My thoughts exactly.

[maddezmom]

17. DOJ News release here:

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/January/08_nsd_029.html

[Cheap_Trick]

18. pubs need to fund terror

they have to have a boogeyman to keep the little twits afraid of their own shadows.

[MasonJar]

19. Just another indicted Pug; what else is new?.

[icymist]

20. Republicans. Not only soft on terror, but helping to fund it as well.

See? I told you so!

[DoBotherMe]

22. Shouldn't he be in GITMO?

I bet he now wishes he hadn't supported torture candidates. :evilgrin:

[Baby Snooks]

24. The Bush Connection...

And of course there is no Bush connection. If there were, there wouldn't have been an indictment. Just as the Bushes are above the law, their friends are above the law.

Hezbollah is probably the most dangerous of the terrorist organizations. And yet a friend of the Bushes, Issam Fares, is a very outspoken supporter of Hezbollah who on more than one occasion has described it as if it were the United Way of Lebanon. And the man who handled all of his business affairs in the United States is a Democrat. Who is now mayor of Houston. Whom Republicans voted for because they saw the Bush connection through Issam Fares. And friends of the friends of the Bushes can use the Bush connection as well as friends of the Bushes.

The majority of people in this country are completely blinded by the partisan divisions. Divisions that were deliberate. Herr Puppetmeister Karl Rove is still at work. Behind the curtains. Pulling strings. Here and there. The agenda is very much still there. And it has nothing to do with protecting the American people from terrorists who seem in the end to serve the agenda quite well.

I doubt anyone will wake up until one of our major cities is destroyed by a nuclear attack. And most likely both parties will blame the other.

Our Congress should have not acquiesced to this administration with regard to 9/11 and our Congress certainly should not have allowed this administration to remain in office.

There is no political advantage in continuing down a path that leads to the fall of our democracy. And that is the path we are on. The real enemies are the friends of the Bushes. The ones we don't know about. Because our Congress won't talk about them.

I used to hear people say, with regard to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, that such things could never happen here. They have begun to.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. Don't be fooled. This is war on Muslim Religion, even if this target is a GOPer.

[alarimer]

29. I think you are right

They go after these organizations because of their purported ties to terrorism but the evidence is very thin at best that they are. Mostly these are charity organizations.

[tuckessee]

53. Ah, a voice of reason & sanity.

I was getting worried.

There are people on this thread talking about "closet muslims"!!

[sofa king]

26. Curious that this story comes out one day after the Mich. primary.

No deal cut there, I'm sure. And why does Global Strategies, Inc. ring a bell with me?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

31. I thought it did to me at first also

Then I realized I was confusing it with a completely different entity, Global Strategy Group, which was a PR firm that handled Ann Richards.

Here's the link provided by maddezmom to the website for Global Strategies, Inc. http://www.gsi.cc/index.html

Maybe that will jog your memory.

[NJCher]

37. illiterates behind that web site

Their Web site is a joke! What crew of illiterates put that together? "Founders Message" (no possession mark). There are plenty more where that came from.

They abbreviated "former" as "fm." It's "fmr."

And who puts the bookkeeper's name on the home page?!

If that isn't enough, they still have Benazir Bhutto listed as a reference!!



Cher

[Lone_Star_Dem]

41. I saw the "Founders Message"

I missed the fm. rather than fmr.

I laughed when I saw the bookkeeper listed until I noticed the name. I looked and couldn't find out who his wife was, but I bet it's Ms. Allison Siljander.

I guess you don't have to aim to impress when you're marketing yourself to terrorist?

[abluelady]

27. As usual, a Republican. n/t

[Deep13]

28. I guess treason just isn't a hot-button issue for the Rs.

That is it isn't unless someone is saying he or she doesn't like Bush or our involvement in some war, then it is of major importance.

[hasssan1]

34. Republican Treason

Give Him life x 10. these Fu**ing republican who always accuse us being anti America. Who is anti America now bitches !!!!

[Plucketeer]

36. Figures -

- don't it! :grr:

[Faygo Kid]

39. I'm from Michigan, and I remember this guy. Complete right-wing nutjob.

You kinda have to be if you are going to represent southwest lower Michigan.

Another upstanding Republican. The Republicans are disgusting scum. There used to be some decent ones (like Bill Milliken and even GEORGE Romney in Michigan), but this guy was one who ushered in the era when Republicans with any ethics were no longer welcome in the party.

Vile scum of the Limbaugh wing.

[navarth]

40. goddam it why did he have to be from Michigan

you say he's from the southwest part? whereabouts?

shit, I just remembered fucking Spencer Abraham. ugh!!

and of course we've got that other clown, the one they're grooming to run for governor...the one who, along with Rick Santorum, said we'd finally found the WMD's in Iraq!! yeah...the WMD's that were like 5 million years old that we had sold them to fight Iran or something....Hoekstra! that's it, Peter Hoekstra.

I gotta go wash my hands....:grr:

[Faygo Kid]

43. A Lions' fan. Why do we suffer with bad politicians, and Matt Millen, too?

Been a Lions fan since 1962. Not much else to say.

[navarth]

54. don't worry. we're all set

The Bobby Layne curse is just about expired. after that, the Lions will be back in a big way.

http://www.curseofbobbylayne.com/index2.html ;)

[shenmue]

42. Thanks for nothing, Siljander...

Ugh. :(

[Historic NY]

44. The Republican Taliban gives aid & comfort to the enemy.......

send his ass to Gitmo. Lets waterboard him.

[seemslikeadream]

45. A connection with Ptech

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2700537&mesg_id=2700537

[Auntie Bush]

46. What! Another Rethug traitor bites the dust! Off to Gitmo with him.

Gawd...I'd be ashamed to be a Republican! What next? Who next?

[dflprincess]

48. But I thought only Republicans could keep us safe from the terra-ists!

:sarcasm:

[mistertrickster]

49. Yes, indeed, it's the Republicans who don't hate America like the libs do

:sarcasm:

[rasputin1952]

50. Amazingly, I am not in the least bit surprised...

it seems as though being a GOP'er has the mandatory requirement that one be completely without any moral compass whatsoever.

It is fine for them to sit in a tree and screech about others, but when it comes right down to it, these people are beyond despicable in their seemingly inherent hypocrisy.

[bjobotts]

51. Bout time. When will they nail Rep. Roy Blunt R-MO for treason.CREW calls

Blunt one of THE most corrupt members in congress for past 20yrs. Sibel Edmonds put his picture up on her site next to Hastert for selling Nuclear secrets and money laundering. He is accused of being a traitor. About MO- at one point in the '70s U of Columbia in MO had highest concentration of Iranian and Iraqi students over here boasting the Queen of chemical weapons under Sadam working on her masters. Now a carity in Columbia, MO sent money to Sadam's regime? Very intriguing. These repubs care more for money than country, just like their leaders. I'm surprised Pelosi didn't intervene claiming it would distract from 'policy making' to prosecute them.

[Alcibiades]

52. Fox will put a (D) after his name

Presto, chango, he's a liburul who hates Amurika!