Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is under fire for receiving donations from Muslims connected to groups supported by financing from Saudi Arabia. Author Paul Sperry writes in FrontPageMag.com refers to Connolly as “the Saudis’ new man in Congress.”

Sperry writes that FEC records show that Connolly was given a $1,000 donation by an individual named Yaquib Mirza, who he says “is a Saudi bagman, acting on behalf of Saudi millionaire and al-Qaida financier Yassin al-Qadi.”

“Though he's not been charged with a crime, Mirza is bad news -- bad enough that several other politicians, including even Muslim Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., have returned his terror-tainted cash. Why hasn't Connolly?,” Sperry wrote.

Connolly also received $1,000 from Hisham al-Talib and $500 from Omar Ashraf. These two individuals run the Safa Group, which is a Saudi-backed network of charities currently under federal investigation for fundraising for terrorists.

Nihad Awad, a self-proclaimed supporter of Hamas and the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, donated $500 to Connolly’s campaign, as did Esam Omeish, the president of the Muslim-American Society, who Sperry says helps run a Saudi-backed mosque that some of the 9/11 hijackers attended.

Connolly also defended the Islamic Saudi Academy which was found to be using textbooks that promoted extremism. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the State Department to close the school in October 2007. The school is still in operation today and claims it has removed the extremist portions of the texts. 

Congressman Gerry Connolly won the election in Virginia’s 11^th district this past November, defeating his Republican opponent with 55% of the vote.