Ex-Congressman Pleads Guilty in Islamic American Relief Agency Lobbying Case

(Washington Post) R. Jeffrey Smith - Former congressman Mark D. Siljander (R-Mich.) pleaded guilty Wednesday to serving as an unregistered agent in Washington for an Islamic charity that the federal government said had ties to international terrorism. Siljander confirmed that he contacted members of Congress in an effort to lift restrictions on the charity and then lied about his work in statements to investigators. The Islamic American Relief Agency was raided and shuttered by the government in 2004. Siljander was paid $75,000 from funds stolen by the charity from a U.S. Agency for International Development grant intended to finance work in Mali.


2010-07-28 07:49:36

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