Anyone who is siding with Huma Abedin over the issue of the letters from Reps. Bachmann, Franks, Gohmert, Westmoreland, and Rooney is losing the argument BIG TIME. The latest example comes courtesy of Diana West, whose last four stanzas in her August 3rd column, drive a stake through the heart of any argument Huma’s defenders are inclined to put forth.

Via TownHall:

Bachmann & Co. haven’t alleged wrongdoing on Abedin’s part. Rather, their question turns on the process that permitted a person with close family ties to an array of world Islamic movements and figures hostile to the United States to gain the security clearance Abedin requires to serve alongside the secretary of state.

I looked over the lengthy Form 86 that federal employees fill out to apply for national security positions. One portion is devoted to an applicant’s relatives, with a question about relatives’ affiliations with any “foreign movement.” If Abedin answered fully — and there are stiff penalties for failing to do so — she would have noted, for starters, that her mother, Saleha Abedin, belongs to the Muslim Sisterhood (the Brotherhood’s auxiliary, primarily for relatives of prominent Brothers) and serves on the board of the International Islamic Council for Dawah and Relief, a group banned in Israel for supporting Hamas. Saleha Abedin has been a representative of the Muslim World League, whose affiliates have been charged by the U.S. government with funding terrorism. Any ensuing investigation would turn up Saleha’s work with the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, where she edits the journal that Huma, too, worked on for a dozen years. That same institute was founded by Huma’s father in Saudi Arabia with the assistance and long-term involvement of Abdullah Omar Naseef. Naseef was secretary-general of the Muslim World League and also founded the Rabita Trust, a U.S.-designated international terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaida.

There’s more, but just imagine the light dawning on the background-checker: So, Ms. Abedin, let me get this straight: Your folks, and you, too, worked with a guy who founded a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaida, your mom’s on the board of a group banned in Israel for supporting Hamas, and you want top-secret clearance to work for the secretary of state.

Then what happened?

If there is a signature on that Form 86 belonging to someone who cleared Huma, that person has some explaining to do. If there either isn’t a signature on that Form 86 or isn’t a Form 86 at all,  Huma and Hillary are the ones who have some real tough questions to answer.

Cross-posted at Ben Barrack