Ensign group accused

In a Yahoo article, a reporter named Zachary Roth wrote, “An outfit that runs a controversial Christian boardinghouse for members of Congress looks to have taken money from an organization that federal prosecutors have accused of funding Islamic terrorism.”

The reference is to the “C Street House” run by “The Family,” a secretive religious group. Nevada’s Sen. John Ensign once lived in the C Street House. The Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) is the supposed terror group involved, though some innocent U.S. Islamic groups have been unfairly tagged with the terror label. Six years ago, IARA gave $25,000 to the International Foundation, another name for the Fellowship Foundation, which is associated with the C Street House.

Ensign has moved out of the house, and there are rumors that he now lives in the Ritz-Carlton, the same place where his senior colleague Harry Reid lives. Reid moved into a Ritz Carlton condo in 2001 after becoming assistant Democratic leader in the Senate. It is closer to Reid’s work on Capitol Hill than his former suburban home, but Reid’s opponent Sharron Angle has made an issue of his residence at the Ritz-Carlton. The hotel makes a tempting target with its lifted-pinky-sounding name.