When Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns went to Egypt last month, along with Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), there was one imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leader Burns seemed to take most interest in. That prisoner was Khairat al-Shater. The meeting between the two men was quite secretive but lasted approximately 90 minutes, despite attempts by al-Shater’s people to say it only lasted 10 minutes.

Khairat al-Sahter, Muslim Brotherhood’s Deputy in Egypt (Chief of Staff a Clinton Employee)

In fact, the guy who lied about the duration of that meeting – Gehad el-Haddad – was an employee of the Clintons who has since been arrested by the Egyptian government, for inciting violence.

Here is an excerpt from an ABC News report about that meeting between Burns and al-Shater:

The Brotherhood had strongly denied the meeting took place, an apparent attempt to keep any mediation efforts under wraps. Publicly, the group says it is not negotiating and will end its protests if Mohamed Mosi is reinstated as president.

After ABC News initially posted news of the meeting on Twitter, a Brotherhood spokesman called an ABC News reporter and acknowledged that el-Shater met Burns, but called it a “swift exchange” that lasted only 10 minutes.

“It was not a real meeting,” Gehad el-Haddad told ABC News. {emphasis ours}

Could el-Haddad’s connection to his former boss explain any of Burns’ intense interest in al-Shater?

Check out what the Egypt Independent had to say about el-Haddad’s dual role with both the Brotherhood and the Clintons shortly after Mohammed Mursi was elected president of Egypt last year:

Three weeks ago, Gehad El Haddad divided his time between volunteering for the Muslim Brotherhood and heading the Cairo office of the Clinton Climate Initiative, a nongovernmental organization set up by the former American president.

Mixing practical goals with Islamic values has defined the 30-year-old’s life to date. Once a creative entrepreneur, he is now putting all his efforts into the Brotherhood’s Renaissance Project. {emphasis ours}

Gehad El-Haddad: Al-Shater’s Chief of Staff and Clintons’ employee.

(Perhaps we’re getting a bit closer to another reason Hillary so supported the Brotherhood in Egypt after Mursi’s victory.)

A short time later, the Independent reported something else about el-Haddad:

He is one of five members of the project’s steering committee, which is chaired by Khairat al-Shater, a wealthy businessman and influential Brotherhood member. His offices are directly beneath Shater’s in Nasr City. {emphasis ours}

El-Haddad’s offices were “directly beneath al-Shater’s”? As to why that might be, the Middle East Monitor may answer that question:

El-Haddad, who has been the main contact between the international media and the Brotherhood, was the chief of staff to Khairat El-Shater; his father, Essam El-Haddad, was an aide to ousted President Mohamed Morsi. He has been charged with inciting the killing of protestors. {emphasis ours}

Now that there is an el-Haddad / Mursi connection, it’s worth noting that EXHIBIT H of our “Ironclad” report is an excerpt from a speech Mursi gave at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on September 25, 2012. In this clip, Mursi called for restrictions on freedom of speech when it comes to Islam:

As for the importance of the elder al-Shater to the Obama administration, consider this excerpt from a Fox News report about why the Saad al-Shater (Khairat’s son) was arrested late last month:

It was not immediately clear why police detained el-Shater’s 23-year-old son. Officials only said Wednesday that police had arrested Saad el-Shater and that he had threatened to release documents allegedly showing ties between his father and U.S. President Barack Obama. Officials did not elaborate.

It would seem this charge is becoming less of a leap the more events in Egypt unfold.

**UPDATE on September 18, 2013, at 10:12pm EST**
This may be an opening to a very explosive development. Consider Addendum G of our “Ironclad” report. It involves the charges made by prominent Egyptian television host Ahmed Moussa, who claimed in July of this year that the passport of one of Christopher Stevens’ assassins was found in the home of Khairat al-Shater. If this is borne out, the Clintons’ relationship to al-Shater’s Chief of Staff (el-Haddad) would instantly become more relevant.

Note: This post was updated slightly on 9/19 to include the ABC News excerpt about el-Haddad’s meeting with Burns.