{mosads}Bachmann’s letter raised questions about State Department questions resulting from “influence operations” conducted by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist party with majority control of Egypt’s new government. It singled out Huma Abedin, a longtime senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), connecting three members of her family to “Muslim Brotherhood operatives and/or organizations” and alleging she might be using her position to aid the Islamist group.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized the letter on the Senate floor. Bachmann’s fellow members of the House Intelligence Committee and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) also repudiated it. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton defended it for raising legitimate questions. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told CBS “This Morning” on Friday that “her concern was about the security of the country.”

Four other Republican lawmakers — Reps. Trent Franks (Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Tom Rooney (Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) — also signed the letter. 

“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 groups’ access to top Obama administration officials,” Bachmann said in defending the letter last week.

Bachmann also faces strong Democratic competition in the redrawn Minnesota district where she is running for reelection this fall.

Updated at 4:18 p.m.