HispanicBusiness

As controversy has raged this week over her calls for an investigation into alleged Islamic influence in the U.S. government, Rep. Michele Bachmann has not backed down.

Instead, she has zeroed in on a fellow congressman from Minnesota, too.

Bachmann has accused U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, one of the first to challenge her earlier statements, of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ellison, a Minneapolis Democrat and the first Muslim elected to Congress, denied her allegations.

The latest dispute comes after Bachmann also alleged a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had connections to the group, prompting top Republican leaders to denounce Bachmann's actions and to distance themselves from the tea party favorite.

Democrats called Bachmann's actions a "baseless witch-hunt," using it to campaign against the three-term congresswoman.

Political observers said overall Bachmann's controversies won't help her re-election bid in the 6th Congressional District, garnering attention for her Democratic opponent Jim Graves and some much-needed cash to go with it.

But that by no means portends a defeat for Bachmann, a skilled campaigner and fundraising whiz who has been able to weather past gaffes and pull off victories.

"It's bound to bring down her numbers at a minimum," said congressional scholar Steve Smith, director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis.

"But what

it means for the outcome of the race is unclear. We're living in an era where the electorate is particularly polarized and the number of people who are truly independent voters, who could be swayed by such radical comments, are fewer and fewer."

Criticism against Bachmann and four other Republican congressmen intensified this week after they asked federal investigators to look into whether State Department officials were trying to influence foreign policy to help Islamic causes.

They specifically claimed that a top aide to Clinton, Huma Abedin, has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

On Thursday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner condemned Bachmann's comments, as did Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.

Sen. John McCain earlier defended Abedin, chastising Bachmann and others during a speech on the Senate floor for the "unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable woman, a dedicated American and a loyal public servant."

Bachmann isn't retreating.

She defended her inquiries in an interview with conservative talk show host Glenn Beck on Thursday. That's when she made the comments about Ellison, who had criticized Bachmann and others and asked them to produce evidence that such infiltrations were taking place.

"Well, he has a long record of being associated with (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) and with the Muslim Brotherhood," Bachmann told Beck.

Ellison told the Huffington Post that the claims were completely false. "I am not now, nor have I ever been, associated with the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.

He told Politico it's "clear" that Bachmann "wanted attention" and that she's trying to marginalize "a certain group of Americans."

Attempts to reach Ellison on Friday for comment were unsuccessful.