There’s an old adage in court that says when the facts are not on your side, discredit the opposition. Nowhere is this strategy better exemplified than in the case of Huma Abedin’s defenders. The latest case-in-point comes from Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch. In his embarrassing missive, Tashman neither addresses nor responds to one fact. He simply attempts to smear those who present them.

Conspiracy theorists Frank Gaffney and Diana West yesterday took turns attacking Huma Abedin, the top Hillary Clinton aide and wife of New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, and insisted that the media is covering up her ties to Muslim terrorists. Gaffney and West, like other anti-Muslim activists, encouraged Michele Bachmann’s witch hunt against Abedin. The two have long engaged in baseless conspiracy theories; for example, both are birthers and Gaffney thinks Obama might be a secret Muslim.

For the record, we have largely ignored the Birther issue on this site but would like to pose a question to Mr. Tashman: Who do you view as the crazier conspiracy theorists, “Birthers” or “9/11 Truthers”?

The Muslim Brotherhood is rife 9/11 Truthers, to include the recently ousted President of Egypt, Mohammed Mursi. Oh, and Mursi’s wife is one of 63 leaders in the Muslim Sisterhood, alongside Huma’s mother Saleha Mahmoud Abedin. Abedin’s familial ties to Mursi are irrefutable. Here is a clip from a 2012 exchange between Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly and John Bolton, shortly before Mursi was sworn in as Egypt’s president. At the time, Mursi was calling for a new investigation into 9/11, via 911 Blogger:

We’ll assume that Tashman is willing to call this a conspiracy theory wash. The rest of Tashman’s piece involved nothing more than quotes from West that are to be read only after discrediting her. What Tashman didn’t do – and no Abedin defender will do – is address facts. Yet, no politician of consequence – save for the Bachmann five, which dwindled to the Bachmann four after Rep. Tom Rooney backed out – has been willing to go after this low hanging fruit.

Once again, the facts about Huma Abedin are these:

1. She is a devout Muslim.
2. She grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
3. Her parents were placed in charge of an Institute founded by al-Qaeda financier Abdullah Omar Naseef.
4. She served on the Board of that Institute for over a decade and with Naseef for a few of those years.
5. Her mother is one of 63 leaders in the Muslim Sisterhood.
6. No one has produced her Form 86.
7. She is seeking to become the first lady of the city that was hit on 9/11 by the group her one-time boss funded (and she’s right on track).

Huma’s defenders will only acknowledge bullet items 1 and 2. Instead of acknowledging any of the other facts, they smear those who point to them.

There is another brand of Huma Abedin defenders, who actually do the most damage – those who remain silent.

Left to Right: Al-Qaeda financier Abdullah Omar Naseef, Hillary Clinton, Saleha Abedin, Huma Abedin