According to the Washing Post we know that:
"Al-Arian was one of 160 members of the American Muslim Council who were briefed on Bush's faith-based agenda and other issues by Rove and others in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the White House, on June 22, 2001. The visitors were in Washington for the group's annual convention, and the group organized a delegation that accepted an invitation to visit the White House.
"The Secret Service requires any potential visitor to the White House complex to submit a Social Security number and birth date to enable a security check.
"Several pro-Israel and conservative activists had warned administration officials not to meet with the American Muslim Council contingent because the group had courted controversy for years, knowledgeable sources said.
"Abduraham Alamoudi, a member of the organization also at the meeting with Rove, said at a White House demonstration in October 2000, "We are all supporters of Hamas," the popular name of the Islamic Resistance Movement, a main sponsor of suicide bombings in Israel.
"Rove, according to Al-Arian and other attendees, used the meeting to talk of White House efforts to embrace the Muslim community. Al-Arian said he sat in the front row.
"A White House official was unable to say who else spoke to the group. Records showed that Al-Arian was admitted to the White House at least once during the Clinton administration, the official said."
Even though as the article says that GW is committed to outreach to all religions and ethnic minorities, and will continue to do so, the White House knew about Al-Arian being investigated. In fact Al-Arian "told The Washington Post in an interview last year that being cleared into the White House gave him confidence that he was no longer suspected of being a terrorist supporter or sympathizer."
According to this same article "The meeting was controversial within the White House even before it took place. The group that included Al-Arian was scheduled to be briefed by Vice President Cheney, but Cheney canceled. That morning, the Jerusalem Post had run a front-page article headlined, "Cheney to host pro-terrorist Muslim group."
Let's see if GW disassociates himself from these people as swiftly as he did with Lott, not that I agreed with his position on Lott.
We can only hope the President does the right thing here, and rolls some heads. For starters, Grover Norquist, Khaled Saffuri, Suhail Khan, and Ali Tulbah should be given the Secret Service bum's rush, permanently, from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I actually think the sitution here is far more alarming than it was with Trent Lott, though I supported his ouster, and the President's handling of the matter.
Al-Arian and others have been arrested.