Michele Bachmann was scolded by House Intelligence Committee chair Mile Rogers for her letter to the State Department suggesting the Muslim Brotherhood is stealthily influencing the department and implying that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin might be an agent for the group. Republicans like Sen. John McCain and House Speaker John Boehner publicly rebuked Bachmann, Rogers was "incredibly angry" over the stunt, Politico's Jake Sherman reported. There was speculation she could lose her seat on the intelligence committee, but that's not going to happen, according to The National Review's Robert Costa. Rogers met with Bachmann last week. Whether Rogers asked her to apologize is a matter of dispute, Costa reports, but "all these sources agree that the discussion was not about Bachmann’s potentially losing her seat on the committee. There’s no doubt that it was a scolding, though."

One thing Rogers and other Republicans on the committee were worried about was that because Bachmann sits on the intelligence committee, it could look to outsiders like she was making her case against Abedin based on classified information. "I’m told Rogers was very sensitive to the committee being connected to any non-congressional investigation of Abedin or other federal employees," Costa writes.

Boehner has tried to stay out of it, Costa reported earlier, offering another juicy nugget of Bachmannology: Boehner may have spoken out against Bachmann's charge because Bachmann is tough to manage. Since "she does not consult with leadership on most of her initiatives and does not respond well to emissaries or private counsel, many aides feel that Boehner’s public statement was the best way to send a message — for now."

The National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru wonders if anyone has bothered to read Bachmann's letter. "As far as we can tell, the Muslim Brotherhood is manipulating the State Department into doing its bidding," he writes. He finds her evidence lacking.

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Elspeth Reeve