Foxman wants answers from Hannity

Why is Sean Hannity inviting a man with an “extensive track record of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks” to be a guest on his television show? The Anti-Defamation League would like to know.

In a letter to the Fox News Channel host, the organization states that an espouser of “odious views” such as Andy Martin “ought not to be given the opportunity to enhance his credentials or his standing by appearing on ‘Hannity’s America.'” Martin appeared on the show to falsely allege that Obama is a Muslim.

Martin has a history of filing court documents containing anti-Semitic slurs, and in 1986 he listed the purpose of a campaign committee he launched for U.S. Congress in Connecticut as “to exterminate Jew power.”

The New York Times catalogued Martin’s past on Monday, and Obama spokesperson Robert Gibbs confronted the talk show host about Martin live on-air after last week’s second presidential debate. Hannity responded that he interviews people he disagrees with all the time, noting that he had also interviewed New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, among others.

Here’s more information from the ADL on Martin:

Anthony (Andy) Martin
Anthony Martin-Trigona

1. In a lawsuit against a federal bankruptcy judge, Anthony Martin referred to the judge as a “crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race.” Martin-Trigona v. Lavien, Civ. No. 83-2944 (S.D.N.Y.). In his complaint in Martin-Trigona v. Lavien, Civ. No. H-83-305 (D.Conn.), he stated, among other things, that “Jews, historically and in daily living, act through clans and in wolf pack syndrome….” and that “No sociological evidence exists that Jews have superior intelligence or any other special characteristics, other than the herd instinct….” In re Martin-Trigona, 573 F.Supp. 1245, 1263 (D.Conn.1983). See also U.S. v. Martin-Trigona, 759 F.2d 1017, 1022 (2nd Cir 1985).

2. In 1996, the Republican Party of Florida rejected Martin as its candidate for Florida state Senate on the grounds that in an unsuccessful run for Congress in Connecticut in 1986, Martin had signed a document filed with the Federal Election Commission stating that he had formed a committee called “The Anthony R. Martin-Trigona Congressional Campaign Committee to Exterminate Jew Power in America and Impeach the Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City.”

3. From 2002 to 2004, Martin issued a series of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel press releases relating to the Middle East peace process. In these releases, he has:
• Demonized Israel as “reprising the rape of Nanking” and conducting a “slaughter of Palestinians”; he called Israel “a toxic confection of European and American guilt in the wake of World War II” and sought punitive actions against Israel and Israelis on the part of the European Union. (April 11, 2002).
• Described Ariel Sharon as “the Israeli Fuhrer.” (August 11, 2002).
• Claimed that Israel is conducting a “holocaust” of killings against women and children; that Israeli “storm troopers” are conducting a “devious” campaign against Christian religious leaders in an attempt to “render Jerusalem ‘Christianrein.'”; and that Israeli consider themselves “omnipotent” and are seeking to conduct a “holocaust” against Muslims. (September 24, 2002).
• Alleged that “”Israel is trying to embroil the United States in a ‘holy war’ in the Middle East,” and that “300 million Americans have had their government hijacked by 6 million Israelis.” (March 25, 2004).

4. Martin currently operates a website at www.contrariancommentary.com, where he continues to promote the anti-Semitic allegation that the Israel lobby controls the U.S. Congress. Moreover, in a posting on March 14, 2008, Martin alleged about the scandal surrounding New York Governor Eliot Spitzer that “[t]he Mossad’s fingerprints are all over this one…. The combination of international sex and money laundering are classic clues that Israeli intelligence was trolling for blackmail targets, offering protection in exchange for sexual dossiers.”

Note: Martin claims that the 1983 bankruptcy filings did not represent his actual views, and that the 1986 election commission filings were forged.