According to a handful of very certain Republicans, the entire American political process is under siege by the Muslim Brotherhood.

That’s right — President Obama, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, even the Conservative Political Action Conference and Senator Lindsey Graham have one purpose: advancing the Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda and instating Sharia law in the United States, according to Republicans like former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.

The Brotherhood is the largest and oldest organization of political Sunni Islam in Egypt. In June 2012, Muslim Brotherhood leader Muhammed Morsi became Egypt’s first freely elected head of state. But after mass demonstrations earlier this year, Morsi was deposed by Egypt’s military and has remained jailed since. The tense and confusing diplomatic situation between Egypt and the United States has given way to many conspiracy theories for political gain.

Of course, these claims have no basis in fact and have been disputed by leaders in both parties, but that hasn’t stopped the witch-hunt by these modern day McCarthyists.

Here’s a look back at the 5 most incendiary Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy theories.

Lindsey Graham, Community Organizer For The Muslim Brotherhood

If South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham wants to quiet his primary challenger, he’ll have to spend more time in his state and less time in Egypt. His primary challenger, South Carolina state senator Lee Bright (R), called Graham a “community organizer for the Muslim Brotherhood,” following the senator’s recent trip to Egypt with Senator John McCain (R-AZ).

On the trip, Graham and McCain met with Muslim Brotherhood leaders, among other political figures in the country. Bright then criticized Senator Graham while striking a populist tone, saying, “During the [congressional] recess, when I would hope that he would be around folks in South Carolina, getting their feelings on so many issues that affect their lives, he has instead chosen to take his time to be a community organizer for the Muslim Brotherhood, and that concerns me.”

The Muslim Brotherhood Infiltrated The U.S. State Department

Outgoing Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann kicked off the Muslim Brotherhood witch-hunt when she and a few other Republican congresspeople sent letters to several inspectors general in the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice and Office of National Intelligence to call attention to the Muslim Brotherhood threat. Bachmann’s letter explicitly named Huma Abedin, then the State Department’s deputy chief of staff, as someone with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Huma Abedin has three family members — her late father, her mother and her brother — connected to Muslim Brotherhood operatives or organizations,” the letter read.

More moderate voices in the GOP then stepped in to denounce the accusation. Senator John McCain gave an impassioned rebuke of Bachmann’s letter on the floor of the Senate.

“When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation,” McCain said.

Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.com

The Muslim Brotherhood Is A ‘Legitimate National Security Risk’

One of the congresspeople who backed Michele Bachmann’s letter campaign was Florida Republican Tom Rooney. After the Republican Party leadership turned on Bachmann’s comments about Huma Abedin, Rooney said he was sorry that Abedin had become the focal point. “I regret that Ms. Abedin has become the media focus of this story, because the intention of the letters was to bring greater attention to a legitimate national security risk.”

Rooney, nevertheless, still believes Muslim Brotherhood influence in the U.S. government can lead to terror attacks like the Fort Hood shooting. “As a member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, my top priority is ensuring the security of our nation. The tragic events at Fort Hood in 2009 proved that our enemies will go to great lengths, including infiltrating and recruiting members of our military, to commit acts of terror against American citizens,” he told U.S. News and World Report.

The American Conservative Movement Has Been Taken Over By The Muslim Brotherhood

This zinger is put forth by the Center for Security Policy (CSP) and their president, Frank Gaffney. According to a February 2011 report in The Nation, CSP staffers took to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to spread their talking points regarding radical Islam in the ranks of the American conservative movement. According to the CSP, the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the American conservative movement in order to install “a supremacist program that justifies the destruction of Christian churches and parishioners” and “the replacement of our constitutional republic… with a theocratic Islamic caliphate governing according to Sharia.”

CSP’s primary target at CPAC was Suhail Kahn, a senior fellow at a think tank focused on religious freedom, and a devout Muslim. Despite Kahn’s staunch conservatism, his religious faith made him a target for CSP’s anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Kahn told journalist Sarah Posner that he has dealt with attacks by CSP and Frank Gaffney before, adding that Gaffney is a “crazy bigot.”

The Muslim Brotherhood Has ‘Goods On Obama’

To further complicate the confusing diplomatic relationship between the United States and Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood itself is prone to conspiracy theories. In an interview with News Agency Anatolia in Turkey, Saad Al-Shater, the son of Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat Al-Shater, said his father has information that will land President Obama in jail. Al-Shater claimed President Obama sent a U.S. delegation to Egypt to meet with Brotherhood leaders so his father would not release the controversial information.

McCain and Graham met with Khairat Al-Shater during their trip to the region. They also advocated for Al-Shater’s release and labeled him a “political prisoner.”

Photo: Screenshot via WorldNetDaily