Rep. Keith Ellison Responds to Michele Bachmann's Terrorist Accusations With New Report

Rep. Keith Ellison speaks in Minnesota in 2008.

Three weeks after Michele Bachmann released a 16-page-letter warning that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated the U.S. government--and that it had ties to her fellow Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison--the Democratic congressman responded with a new report on the role of religion in politics.

"12 Rules for Mixing Religion and Politics," authored by the progressive People for the American Way Foundation, or PFAW, and promoted by Ellison at an event Thursday night, decried Bachmann's brand of political discourse.

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Calling attention to the "significant movement to demonize American Muslims" in the U.S. today, the report criticized the "divisive rhetoric" it said was undermining the country's potential.

While neither the report nor Ellison mentioned Bachmann by name, Ellison, who was the first Muslim elected to Congress, made a number of oblique references to her attack.

"You know an official in the Nixon administration compiled a list of all the Jews," he said. "And Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host, just knew the sky would fall if I was sworn in. He said I was more dangerous than Osama bin Laden."

Two weeks ago, Bachmann said Ellison had "a long record" of being associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, considered a terrorist organization in some countries but not the U.S.

"You know, the sky is still up there," Ellison said.

The same day it released its report, PFAW also created a petition to demand that Bachmann be removed from her seat on the Intelligence Committee because of her "baseless allegations."

Elizabeth Flock is a staff writer for U.S. News & World Report. You can contact her at eflock@usnews.com or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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