Former Congressman Mark Siljander Indicted for Money Laundering and Supporting Terrorism

Former U.S. Representative Mark Siljander, who served during the Reagan administration, has been indicted for money laundering and other offenses by the FBI. The FBI press release detailing the charges against Siljander and others claims that Siljander played several roles in diverting U.S. aid money to terrorists identified as such by the U.S. Government, as well as being hired to help obtain the removal of an organization from a U.S. Government list of organizations suspected of supporting international terrorism.

The Daily Kos, in an article discussing former Republican Congressman Siljander's background from a religious perspective, has a series of quotes which illuminate his zealousness in representing his faith. It also discusses his transition to reconciling Christian-Islamic differences, which came out of his role in representing the U.S. in negotiations regarding Darfur in the Sudan. It appears that his troubles may have stemmed from contacts which, well-intentioned or not, turned into his alleged attempt to divert U.S. funds, change the government list, and eventually give false testimony about the situation.

According to the FBI, the situation in which Siljander found himself fell apart as the aid funding was conditional on matching funds raised by the organization. When the funds were allegedly transferred to terrorist operations and matching funds did not appear, the U.S. Agency for International Development required that funds be returned. Since that was not possible, they claim, false stories and deception ensued.

The eventual beneficiary of the funds, the FBI release says, was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an "Afghan mujahideen leader and founder of the Hezb-e-Islami-Gulbuddin (HIG)." Hekmatyar was said to have a close working relationship with by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and vowed holy war against the United States.

Past members of Congress have encountered situations where they were said to have crossed the line in order to pursue noble or ignoble goals, such as the Democratic Senator Harrison A. Williams who was convicted in the FBI's Abscam sting operation, as well as Democratic Congressmen John Murtha, Frank Thompson, and John Murphy who were not prosecuted for their roles, although Murtha was named an "unindicted co-conspirator," according to Wikipedia.

Likewise, Republican Representatives Katherine Harris and Virgil H. Goode were nearly caught in the same net as Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham as they became involved in receiving laundered contributions from a defense contractor, according to the Boston Globe.

Issues of financial wrongdoing are frequently raised in a partisan fashion as examples of failures of the other political party. The Abscam sting took place in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and was a hypothetical situation created by the FBI involving a wealthy Arab businessman requesting special treatment.

"Mark D. Siljander", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_D._Siljander

"ISLAMIC CHARITY CHARGED WITH TERRORIST FINANCING; FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN INDICTED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING", http://kansascity.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/terroristfinancing011608.htm

"Former Republican Congressman Indicted for Terrorist Money Laundering", DHinMI, http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/16/16745/8450

Senator Harrison A. Williams (convicted), Congressman John Murtha (unindicted co-conspirator), Frank Thompson, John Murphy "Abscam", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abscam

""Congress Bribery Probe Could Deepen", Michael Kranish, http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/05/19/congress_bribery_probe_could_deepen/