2:08 pm Jul. 18, 2012
Huma Abedin "represents what is best about America" Republican senator John McCain said today, following accusations by a group of House Republicans that the longtime Hillary Clinton aide and other Muslim officials in the State Department are cooperating with the Muslim Brotherhood to undermine America.
Abedin, the daughter of Muslim immigrants originally from Saudi Arabia, is married to former congressman Anthony Weiner, and recently gave an interview to People magazine about living through his tumultuous resignation from office.
Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota accused Abedin of using her position as Clinton's aide to push a "Muslim-extremist" agenda on the administration. Bachmann's theory, which is precisely as credible as it sounds, is based on a report that impugns Abedin's family by noting, among other things, that her brother, Hassan, sits on a board of a group called the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies along with Omar Naseef and Youssef Qaradawi, who have ties to Islamic organizations.
McCain, who survived years of torture as a prisoner of war and had a good personal relationship with Clinton when they were both in the Senate, said today, "I know Huma to be an intelligent, upstanding, hard-working, and loyal servant of our country and our government, who has devoted countless days of her life to advancing the ideals of the nation she loves and looking after its most precious interests."
He went on to call the case against Abedin "nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant."
McCain went on to say, "I have every confidence in Huma’s loyalty to our country, and everyone else should as well. All Americans owe Huma a debt of gratitude for her many years of superior public service. I hope these ugly and unfortunate attacks on her can be immediately brought to an end and put behind us before any further damage is done to a woman, an American, of genuine patriotism and love of country."
