Congressional candidate and Holocaust denigrator Pete McCloskey, running against Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy in Tuesday's GOP primary, is returning a $2,100 campaign donation he received from a man tied to al-Qaeda.
The money was from M. Yaqub Mirza, a Pakistan native living in Virginia, who has been investigated by the Justice Department for allegedly helping to finance al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad. Mirza's offices were raided by federal authorities in March 2002.
McCloskey, a moderate former House member who has raised questions about Pombo's ethics, said he's never met Mirza but would return the money. "This is America, so you are presumed innocent until proven guilty, but I just don't want the appearance of impropriety," McCloskey told the Stockton Record in a story published Thursday. "I'll send it back."
| "'Because otherwise my campaign is dead." |
Mirza did not return calls from the Record and could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday by The Associated Press.
McCloskey has courted support from the Muslim community, and also has criticized Israeli foreign policy and praised former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Some of his past comments have been criticized by Pombo's campaign as hostile to Jews, criticism that McCloskey has disputed.
| He's also a Holocaust denigrator and denier. |
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