Former Congressman Mark Deli Siljander (R-MI) Indicted For Terrorist Fundraising

Yipes.

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.

Ace has pounced on the story and has lots of links and background info.  Bryan, Rusty, and Michelle are also on it, rapidly piecing things together.

Update: Via Bryan, Debbie Schlussel (who worked as a Congressional staffer for Siljander in 1985) paints a surprising picture of the man.

When I worked for Mark Siljander, in the summer after my junior year of high school, and again when I was headed to college, I was just 16, but more than an intern. I wrote speeches for him, I helped tutor him in Hebrew, which he learned to speak and write, and I accompanied him to many events.

What makes the allegations in the indictment so shocking, is that Siljander is a Born-Again Evangelical Christian. We had fast days in his office. There were prayer circles.
...
That's why it's so hard for me to read that he may have played for the opposite team--for the enemy. ... This is the Congressman--who when I worked for him--was decades ahead of his time in understanding the Islamist threat worldwide and to America. That he'd reverse course sickens and saddens me.

I think this was about money. Since he lost his Congressional seat, he was hard up for money and was involved in many failed business ventures, including an AIDS-Test-By-Mail.  (He also ran, unsuccessfully, for Congress from Virginia.)

Desperation and money do bad things.

Schlussel will appear on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning at 7:15 to discuss the Siljander situation.