text: ELK RIVER, Minn. — The verdict from Washington last week was swift and bipartisan: Michele Bachmann was out of line. 
   
   Accusing two prominent Muslims — State Department aide Huma Abedin and Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota — of being tied to the Muslim Brotherhood was a step too far, even for the conservative firebrand. 
   
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   But the Northeast corridor’s stunned disbelief at what it saw as a loony conspiracy theory is replaced with hollers of support among Bachmann’s many devoted fans here in the exurbs north of the Twin Cities that she represents. 
   
   (Also on POLITICO: Republicans line up to rip Michele Bachmann) 
   
   If anything, the uproar seems to have galvanized her base. And the contrasting reaction demonstrates why Democrats will have a hard time in their latest effort to unseat the GOP lightning rod. 
   
   Supporters like Duane Halstad, a 69-year-old who was sitting on a porch watching a parade here, said Bachmann is the “only one telling the truth about this thing.” He also said he believes President Barack Obama vacations on Martha’s Vineyard to observe the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. Obama is a Christian. 
   
   Rachel Olson, a 41-year-old from Isanti said flatly that she doesn’t “think [Bachmann] would make something up.” 
   
   The theme that emerged in roughly two dozen interviews over the weekend — at parades and a county fair — is echoed within Bachmann’s inner circle. 
   
   (PHOTOS: Moments from Bachmann's political career) 
   
   Bachmann has long been drawn to the idea that Muslim Brotherhood agents are infiltrating the government — even before she landed a seat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Ron Carey, former chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party and Bachmann’s chief of staff in 2010, said he was present during a private briefing in her office about the group. Bachmann is simply “privy to information that you and I don’t have.” 
   
   “It was very sobering, some of the information this individual was sharing in this private meeting about the Muslim Brotherhood,” Carey said. “I think she’s been exposed to a lot of discussion on the Hill, and it’s been an area of tremendous interest with her.” 
   
   And just like that, the outlines of the post-presidential profile of Bachmann became abundantly clear. A year ago, the 56-year-old tea party favorite was flying high. Campaigning last year in Iowa, she was, for a time, the front-runner for the presidential nomination. 
   
   Her campaign came apart at the seams, and she faded into the background of Republican politics. Many wondered if she’d run for office again. 
   
   But now, her political star has risen once again on the far right. She’s become an annoyance for House Republican leaders, who say her conspiracy theories tarnish the party’s brand and run afoul of their economy-focused message. 
   
   Meanwhile, the left is again targeting her for defeat. 
   
   Democrats spent millions in an unsuccessful bid to beat Bachmann in 2010. They had largely written her off this cycle, thinking a stronger Republican district would make her invincible. But the party seems to be focusing on Democrat Jim Graves, a wealthy Minneapolis businessman who is looking to cast himself as the moderate alternative to the unpredictable Bachmann. The slogan of his campaign is “Getting back to business.” ||||| Police and federal officials have placed security around ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, after a New Jersey man threatened her, law-enforcement sources said. 
   
   An individual, described as a Muslim man, made the unspecified threat after Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last week claimed Abedin’s family had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and asked for a probe to see if she is helping the Islamist organization. 
   
   The man was questioned by the NYPD and the State Department and has not been charged, sources said. ||||| Report cited by Bachmann claims Norquist linked to Muslim Brotherhood 
   
   By Eric W. Dolan 
   
   Sunday, July 22, 2012 11:11 EDT 
   
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   Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist helped the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrate the U.S. government, according to the report that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) cited in an attack on top State Department aide Huma Abedin. 
   
   Earlier this month, Bachmann and four other Republicans sent a letter to inspectors general in the State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice departments calling on them to investigate “potential Muslim Brotherhood infiltration” of the Obama administration by Abedin, an aide to Secretary Clinton and wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). 
   
   As evidence of their claims, the five Republicans cited “The Muslim Brotherhood in America: The Enemy Within,” a ten-part video course produced by the Center for Security Policy. 
   
   The movies claim that the “Muslim Brotherhood was helped in its efforts to achieve information dominance over the George W. Bush administration” by Norquist, a Christian. The influential anti-tax activist is also accused of using “various organizations to promote Islamist agendas.” 
   
   Nearly every Republican in Congress has signed Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge, vowing to oppose any and all tax increases. Only 14 Republican members of 112th Congress have refused to sign the pledge. 
   
   Bachmann has been widely criticized for her attack on Abedin. Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner, Arizona Sen. John McCain, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Bachmann campaign manager Ed Rollins have all condemned the Minnesota congresswoman. But she has insisted the matter needs to be investigated. 
   
   “The letters my colleagues and I sent on June 13 to the Inspectors General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State – and the follow up letter I wrote to Rep. Ellison on July 13 – are unfortunately being distorted,” Bachmann said last week. 
   
   “I encourage everyone, including media outlets, to read them in their entirety. The intention of the letters was to outline the serious national security concerns I had and ask for answers to questions regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical group’s access to top Obama administration officials.”
target: – The latest fallout from Michele Bachmann's Muslim infiltration conspiracy theory: Now Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin—whose family, Bachmann claims, is vaguely connected to the Muslim Brotherhood—has been threatened by a New Jersey man. Abedin is under police protection following the threat, and the man—a Muslim—has been questioned, the New York Post reports. Also tangled up in Bachmann's theory: Grover Norquist. The Raw Story reports that a 10-part video cited by Bachmann and her cohorts in their report claims the conservative anti-tax crusader helped the Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, Bachmann may not have found much support in DC—John Boehner, John McCain, and others roundly condemned her call for a probe into Abedin and others in government—but she has quite a bit of backing in her home state of Minnesota, Politico reports. In fact, her supporters seem even more energized now, which is why this incident almost certainly will not be Bachmann's undoing. Politico has quotes like these from about two dozen interviews with Bachmann supporters: Bachmann is the "only one telling the truth about this thing," or Bachmann wouldn't "make something up."