A government agency sponsors a community outreach program, but limits media access solely to representatives of the community involved. In doing so, the most powerful press representative present was a publisher who has repeatedly endorsed two groups the United States has designated as terrorists.
That's what happened last October when the Commerce Department co-sponsored a "Muslim-American Business Outreach Meeting" with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, Michigan.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) revealed that 75 people attended the invitation-only event. Most were touted as local Muslim and Arab-American business and community leaders. Invitations indicate the event was "At the request of the National Security Council at the White House" as a follow-up to President Obama's Cairo speech last June. Part of his remarks pledged to work at forging new business partnerships domestically and in the Middle East with the Muslim community."
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke attended, along with Dearborn Mayor John B. (Jack) O'Reilly, Jr. But media access was limited to local Arab and Muslim press, the FOIA records show.
Lest that be considered a statement in the heat of the moment, Siblani voiced his support for Hizballah and Hamas during several media interviews, including with NPR and CBN.
It's not clear that the event would have generated much media attention had it been open to all outlets. And Siblani has a right to his opinion, of course. But it's less clear why organizers felt he deserved near exclusive access to agency leadership when some of those views are directly in conflict with the government when it comes to terrorist groups working against American interests.