Bad connections

Politics | A former lawmaker pleads guilty to illegally lobbying on behalf of a charity with terrorism ties—and sweeps up the Fellowship in the controversy | Emily Belz

Handout

In 2004, Mark Siljander, a former Michigan congressman and a UN ambassador in the Reagan administration, told his friends and colleagues he was writing a book. He didn't tell them that he was also illegally lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of a Sudan-based charity that the U.S. Treasury had added to its list of sponsors of international terrorism, the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA). 

On July 7, 2010, Siljander pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and operating as an unregistered foreign agent. (Lobbyists have to register with the Justice Department.) Under the plea the government is likely to drop other charges of money laundering and conspiracy, but he faces up to 15 years in federal prison without parole and a fine of up to $500,000. No sentencing date will be set, according to the Justice Department, until it has completely finished investigating the case.