Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., issued a lengthy defense of Huma Abedin, a long-serving top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in response to five Republican House lawmakers who have requested an investigation into her alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The five House members cited a report from the conservative Center for Security Policy that suggests the Muslim Brotherhood has a nefarious grip on the State Department and U.S. foreign policy. They signed a letter last month calling on the State Department inspector general to investigate Abedin and other officials for their links to one of the world's largest Islamic movements.
Making the request: Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Trent Franks of Arizona, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Tom Rooney of Florida and Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia.
Abedin, who was born in the United States, is Muslim. The CSP report cites Abedin's family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, including her late father, her mother and her brother.
She is currently Clinton's deputy chief of staff, and has been one of her most loyal aides since Bill Clinton was in the White House. She is married to former representative Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.
The attack on her brought a sharp rebuke from the State Department. "These accusations are nothing but vicious and disgusting lies, and anyone who traffics in them should be ashamed of themselves," said Philippe Reines, a State Department spokesman.
The accusation also proved too much for McCain, who offered a public defense of Abedin on the Senate floor Wednesday, citing a personal relationship with her built during Clinton's time in the U.S. Senate and later at State.
"Put simply, Huma represents what is best about America: the daughter of immigrants, who has risen to the highest levels of our government on the basis of her substantial personal merit and her abiding commitment to the American ideals that she embodies so fully," McCain said. "I am proud to know Huma, and to call her my friend."
McCain also offered choice words for his GOP colleagues who sent the letter and its insinuation that Abedin is undermining the U.S. in favor of Islamic interests.
"When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it," he said.
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