Former House member Michele Bachmann represented Minnesota’s 6th district during the years 2007-2015. Conservatives generally call her record “admirable.” But she declined to run for reelection in 2014 even while insisting that she would continue involvement in the political arena.
During her last four years in office, she won appointment to the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence, the congressional panel assigned to delve into terrorism within our nation. In that work, she found herself frequently dismayed by testimony given by federal investigators. In comments recently provided to Art Moore of World Net Daily, she explained why she deplored what she and her colleagues heard from the government’s high-level sleuths.
They don’t want problems to be exposed; they want to look good. Our job is to find out what the truth is, what’s going on in the area of intelligence. We deal with America’s classified secrets and, in particular, our focus was on terrorism. This is an extremely important job we have in Congress — to keep the American people safe.
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After concluding that the federal officials before her weren’t providing needed information, she looked elsewhere. At the recommendation of an aide, Bachmann started listening to Philip Haney, a federal investigator who eventually lost his job because he was pointing credible fingers at terrorists and their motivations. Haney had led a group within the Department of Homeland Security tasked with uncovering Islamic terrorist networks. But his work was shut down by the Obama administration because it was deemed to be “profiling.”
Bachmann realizes that the FBI had investigated Orlando killer Omar Mateen on three separate occasions before his killing spree. “He had all sorts of red flags, really blaring billboards, about what his intentions were. And we couldn’t stop him.” After newer discussions with Haney, she pointed to his belief that a connection existed between the Orlando massacre and the similar carnage carried out in San Bernardino in December 2015. She wonders if Mateen might have been constrained before he killed 49 people.
Anxious to get Haney’s story into the hands of more Americans, the former Minnesota congresswoman has enthusiastically recommended his book See Something, Say Nothing published by World Net Daily. The book’s title, a twist on the oft-cited plea that citizens actually say something when they note suspicious activity, also contains the revealing subtitle, “A homeland security officer exposes the government’s submission to Jihad.”
While promoting the Haney book, Bachmann accused the federal officials of deliberately concealing the motivations for Islamic terrorism. “The bottom line,” she claimed, “is an administration decision that Islamic ideology has nothing to do with terrorism. Well, if you listen to the terrorists themselves, it’s just the opposite.”
Haney has appeared as a guest on numerous television interview programs. Always agreeing that the vast majority of Muslims in America pose no threat, he nevertheless insists that some of Islam’s followers are indeed dangerous, and our own government has refused to admit this and take appropriate action.
Bachmann sought the GOP nomination for president in 2012. Dropping out early, she became the target of the House Ethics Committee and the Federal Elections Commission over alleged campaign violations. When she announced her intention to leave Congress, those investigations were cancelled.
Credit Bachmann for helping to bring Philip Haney’s story to the American people. And credit Haney for his whistleblowing efforts. Millions should read his book.
John F. McManus is president emeritus of The John Birch Society. This column appeared originally at the insideJBS blog and is reprinted here with permission.
