Grand Old Police Blotter: A Reagan Revolutionary Is Busted Edition

There is no God but mammon, and Saint Ronnie is his profit:

WASHINGTON - A former U.S. congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday, accused of being part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.

The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.

A 42-count indictment accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying — money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Siljander, who served four years in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.

This report is sketchy at best. How does lying about lobbying senators involve money laundering, unless there were payments to or from the senators in question. And Bush Justice has tried and failed before in trying to tie Islamic charities to terrorism. But there's no denying a Reagan Republican would do anything for the right price.

Update: Debbie Schlussel is claiming that she worked for Siljander as "more than an intern." (No link to the nutcase.) Perhaps a permanent insanity defense is in the offing.