Norquist, Safavian, "corrupted charities" and terror

In his speech on terror -- the same speech is which he made the dubious "ten plots" claim -- Bush denounced "corrupted charities" that finance terrorism. Gee, does that mean that he intends to do something about Grover Norquist?

GOP bigwig Norquist has strong ties to Sami al-Arian and Abdurahman Alamoudi, accused of using Islamic charities to fund terror.

Let's look first at Alamoudi. Norquist and an Alamoudi deputy named Saffuri founded the Islamic Institute, using (in part) a large donation from Alamoudi. Long story short: Alamoudi was eventually sentenced to 23 years for illegal dealings with Libya. Basically, he participated in a Libyan scheme to assassinate the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. If that plot had succeeded, a pro-jihad faction within the royal family might well have taken control of the kingdom which remains our chief oil supplier.

But wait -- there's more! From a 2003 Keith Olbermann transcript:

Abdurahman Alamoudi, a consultant to the Pentagon on the Chaplain Program for more than a decade, now accused of helping Osama bin Laden and Hamas. Court documents filed late last night, claim Alamoudi has provided "financial support to Hamas" and "financial support to fronts for al-Qaeda." One of the groups allegedly tied to Alamoudi is a charity which gave this Virginia post office as its address. Alamoudi was vice president. Who founded it? Abdullah bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s nephew. Also ringing alarms, Alamoudi’s palm pilot which the government claims included the names and numbers of six designated global terrorists.

Olbermann then interviewed John Loftus:

LOFTUS: Well, you know, it's a funny story. About a year-and-a-half ago, people in the intelligence community came and said-guys like Alamoudi and Sami al-Arian and other terrorists weren't being touched because they’d been ordered not to investigate the cases, not to prosecute them, because there were being funded by the Saudis and a political decision was being made at the highest levels, don't do anything that would embarrass the Saudi government. So, of course I immediately volunteered to do it and I filed a lawsuit, against al-Arian charging him with being a major terrorist for Islamic Jihad, most of his money came from Saudi charities in Virginia.

Now, Alamoudi's headquarters were in the same place, he was raided the same day, on March 20. An hour after I filed my lawsuit, the U.S. government finally got off its butt and they raided these offices. And, the stuff that they’re taking out of there now is absolutely horrendous. Al-Arian has now, finally been indicted, an along with Alamoudi, today.

But, who was it that fixed the cases? How could these guys operate for more than a decade immune from prosecution? And the answer is coming out in a very strange place. What Alamoudi and al-Arian have in common is a guy named Grover Norquist. He’s the super lobbyist. Newt Gingrich’s guy, the one the NRA calls on, head of American taxpayers. He is the guy that was hired by Alamoudi to head up the Islamic institute and he’s the registered agent for Alamoudi, personally, and for the Islamic Institute.

Grover Norquist's best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things.

Emphasis added by me.

But wait -- there's even more! Remember David Savafian, the White House Chief Procurement Dude who has been officially charged with obstructing a criminal probe? Savafian is tight with the ubiquitous GOP funny-money-man Jack Abramoff.

And guess what? Savafian is also tied in with terror-funder Alamoudi:

But Safavian's not just tied to a dirty lobbyist. He's also tied to a convicted terrorist and a suspected terrorist supporter. Lobbying disclosure forms revealed last year that he has been in the employ of Abdurahman Alamoudi, an avowed supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah. Prosecutors have discovered evidence that he has links to al-Qaeda. At the time, Safavian waved aside any affiliation to Alamoudi. He insisted that he was really lobbying for a client named Jamal al Barzinji. That revelation did little to clear Safavian's name: A federal affidavit identifies Barzinji as the ringleader of a group suspected of aiding terrorists.

Dig it. This guy was inside the White House.

Meanwhile, at the Department of Homeland Security... Norquist was instrumental in getting an Alamoudi associate named Faisal Gill named as "policy director" for the intelligence division of the Department of Homeland Security -- even though Gill illegally hid his ties on his security clearance documents. From a 2004 Salon piece by Mary Jacoby:

A White House political appointee with close ties to Republican power broker Grover Norquist and no apparent background in intelligence, Gill has access to top-secret information on the vulnerability of America's seaports, aviation facilities and nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks.

And yet the conservatives are trying to brainwash the public (based on zero evidence) that the Clinton administration was soft on -- or linked to -- terrorists...!

If Bush is looking for corruption, he doesn't have to look very far.