Former Federal Prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, who prosecuted the case against "the Blind Sheikh," Omar Abdul Rahman, speaks about the Brotherhood's "influence operations" and the allegations made by five members of Congress that federal employees, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin, have ties to the group.
The Center for Security Policy hosts the event. Mr. McCarthy began the event with a "hypothetical" story that turned out, he said, to be about Huma Abedin and her work before joining the state department, accusing her of working for a group founded by an Islamic extremist.
He made it clear that he was not accusing all muslims of being unpatriotic, but was looking for a certain brand of Islamic extremism. He said many muslims serve in the military and government honorably, by "accepting our fundamental principles" of liberty and individualism. His concern comes, he said, with muslims who "are beholden to islamist extremism," which he described as more than a belief system and associates with a following of Sharia law.
Mr. McCarthy said that Islamist extremists want to replace the system of American government with a system of imposed Sharia law.
He said that "guilt by association" could disqualify a person from "the privilege of higher office."
When asked about a constructive way to deal with Mohammad Morsi, the new President of Egypt, Mr. McCarthy said "Hitler was the leader of a country, too. The fact that they're a leader of a country doesn't mean that they're not our enemy."
Last month, Representatives Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Tom Rooney (R-FL) sent a letter to the Inspectors General at federal departments asking them to investigate connections between staff and the Muslim Brotherhood. Democrats and several high-profile Republicans, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), denounced the letter and its accusations as "ugly" and "sinister."
On the Senate floor, Sen. McCain said, "These attacks have no logic, no basis, and no merit and they need to stop. They need to stop now."