Ex-Michigan congressman Mark Siljander (GOPer) pleads to obstruction

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit Free Press

POSTED: 2:21 P.M. JULY 7, 2010 | UPDATED: 2:46 P.M. TODAY
Ex-Michigan congressman Mark Siljander pleads to obstruction
BY TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF


WASHINGTON – A former Michigan congressman and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations pleaded guilty today to charges related to work he did for an Islamic charity linked to terrorist groups including al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Mark Siljander, a conservative Republican who represented a southwest Michigan district from 1981 to 1987, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and to acting as an unregistered foreign agent and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and fined up to $500,000.

Siljander, 59, entered his plea before a U.S. District Court judge in Missouri, where the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) was based.

IARA was closed in October 2004 after the U.S. Treasury Department designated it as a global terrorist organization for the support its international office in Sudan provided to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20100707/NEWS15/100707038/1320/Ex-Rep.-Siljander-pleads-guilty-to-obstruction

[FarLeftFist]

1. Wow, 'Republican' and 'Obstruction' in the same sentence.

I'm shocked.

[True_Blue]

5. LOL!

That's exactly what I thought when I first saw the headline.

[Jumping John]

2. I wonder if his name is on the no- fly list and why he

is not a terrorist that should have been imprisoned at Guantanamo?

“A former congressman engaged in illegal lobbying for a charity suspected of funding international terrorism,” said Beth Phillips, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Missouri. “He then used his own charities to hide the payments for his criminal activities. Siljander repeatedly lied to FBI agents and prosecutors investigating serious crimes related to national security."

[Ian David]

3. I am SHOCKED to see a Republican supporting terrorists!

:sarcasm:

[Downwinder]

4. Won't stop his retirement checks. n/t

[Bozita]

6. I don't want to see this GOPer's crimes fall down the ol' memory hole in an election year.

Unnoticed, that is.

What would the MSM be saying if Siljander was a Dem?

It'd be the headline every hour, on the hour, for weeks ... on Foxnews. Other networks would follow, not wanting to endanger their impartiality.

So, ... how well is this story of treason by a former GOP Congressman and former UN Ambassador being covered in your area?