The U.S. Chamber of Commerce doesn’t seem to have any qualms about embracing the Muslim Brotherhood or the extremely Muslim Brotherhood-friendly nations of Qatar and Turkey. In 2013, then Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the U.S. Chamber and was welcomed by Executive Vice-President and COO David Chavern. Also in attendance was Turkish businessman Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola. As Shoebat.com has reported, Coca-Cola has produced some very pro-Muslim and insensitive ads in the past.

Recep Tayyip Erdogn (2nd from left) and David Chavern (far right, next to Muhtar Kent) in 2013 (Photo AP)

In 2010, as Shoebat.com reported, Chavern traveled to Doha, Qatar to inaugurate the American Chamber of Commerce’s outpost there (AmCham Qatar). The occasion was the annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum (US-IWF), an event co-sponsored by the prominent left-wing think tank Brookings Institute and the government of Qatar.

Chavern was joined in the Plenary Sessions by then Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (now President), then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then future Secretary of State John Kerry, and Barack Obama (via video). During the signing ceremony, Chavern was flanked by Farah Pandith, a woman with distinct connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and who was the Obama administration’s Special Representative for Muslim Communities at the State Department.

Screenshot of 2010 US-IWF Plenary Sessions attendees.

Less than three years later, it was learned in a shocking announcement that Al Gore would be selling his Current TV network to al-Jazeera, which is essentially the Muslim Brotherhood’s propaganda network, based in Doha, Qatar. Attempts were made to get Congress to convene hearings into the highly questionable sale but they fell flat:

Rep. Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana who is the new chairman of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), believes Al Jazeera has a First Amendment right to expand its broadcasts in the United States and that a congressional investigation of Al Gore’s deal with the channel is not warranted.

Scalise, a self-described “staunch conservative,” is the new chairman of the RSC, which is the “caucus of House conservatives.” His action makes it increasingly unlikely that the House will exercise any oversight of Al Gore’s controversial sale of his Current TV channel to the mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The buyer is the Middle Eastern regime of Qatar, which owns Al Jazeera. The Qatar regime advertises itself as “America’s Strongest Partner in the Gulf” but has supported terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Osama bin Laden aide and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is currently in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay for acts of terrorism, lived and worked in Qatar but was allowed to leave for Pakistan as U.S. authorities were trying to apprehend him, according to the report of the 9/11 commission.

Moreover, Shoebat.com was a signatory to a letter addressed to House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX). The letter demanded Congressional hearings into the sale.

Those calls fell on deaf ears as well, even after it was learned that there was additional cause for hearings:

The media executive who claims to have arranged the sale says the idea was to make the Terror TV channel “palatable to U.S. lawmakers,” a formulation that suggests foreign lobbying on Capitol Hill in order to protect the $500 million payoff to Gore and other owners and investors in Current TV.

The suit says that media executive John Terenzio also proposed smoothing things over with “pro-Israel factions, cable operators and, most importantly, the American public.”

…In short, the plan was for a massive propaganda campaign to play down the channel’s ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and its financing by the pro-Jihadist Arab government of Qatar.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has been known for his strong conservative statements and leanings but he too purposely avoided challenging the sale or demanding action be taken:

Another House member who has decided to do nothing is Rep. Paul Broun, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee preparing to run for the U.S. Senate from Georgia as a strong conservative.

Friends of Broun have asked him to take a stand against Al Jazeera but he has told them that his staff doesn’t want him to.

In light of the very cozy relationship between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Qatar, it’s worth knowing if the threat of angering the very powerful Chamber had anything to do with McCaul, Scalise, and Broun demurring over the issue of investigating the sale of CURRENT to Al-Jazeera. Raising a stink about that sale very likely could have dragged the Chamber’s relationship with Qatar into some unwanted spotlight.

In 2010, the Chamber endorsed McCaul; both Scalise and Broun have received Spirit of Enterprise Awards from the U.S. Chamber as well.

If playing nice with the Chamber was part of Broun’s calculus, it may have been ill-advised. Earlier this year, Broun expressed his displeasure with the Chamber for endorsing his opponent, based primarily on the issue of amnesty for illegal aliens, a position the U.S. Chamber supports.

It is not known if the power of the U.S. Chamber – coupled with its relationship with Qatar – played a role in chilling Congress’s investigation into the sale of CURRENT to Al-Jazeera or if Al Gore knew such things would serve as a heat shield.

However, properly designating Qatar as a State Sponsor of Terrorism would go a long way in eliminating such possibilities, temptations and corruption.