MONEY TRAIL [Mark Krikorian]
Newsweek's Michael Isikoff is on the trail again, this time linking libertarian activist Grover Norquist to a Saudi-backed "charity" raided last week by federal agents. Though Norquist denounces any implication of impropriety as "incompetent McCarthyism" (as opposed to the competent kind?), the chain seems pretty clear: The SAFA Trust gave thousands to the Islamic Institute, which Norquist helped found and which operates out of the same office as he does. The point is not that Grover is defending terrorism but that in his zeal to attract Muslims to the GOP (which he made the case for in a now-hilariously inappropriate column for The American Spectator in June 2001), he appears to be blinding himself to the less attractive aspects of their agenda and worldview--which is a problem given the near universality of virulent anti-Americanism and lunatic Jew-hatred among Muslims in the Middle East.
This just adds to problems that started with a November New Republic expose of Grover's ties with radical Muslims, including Abdurahman Almoudi, an open supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah.
http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/2002_03_24_corner-archive.asp