MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A controversy surrounding Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann got even bigger Thursday.

During an interview with Glenn Beck, the Republican congresswoman said fellow Minnesota lawmaker Keith Ellison has “a long record of being associated…with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Ellison — the first Muslim to be elected to Congress — says he has no ties to the international Islamist movement.

Earlier on Thursday, the nation’s top Republican condemned Bachmann’s call for an investigation into “Muslim extremists” at top levels of the U.S. government.

Bachmann stirred controversy earlier this week after saying Muslim extremists had infiltrated the state department and Department of Defense. She alleged that a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has family ties to groups connected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is currently in power in Egypt.

Bachmann is calling for investigations in a total of five federal departments.

Republican leaders, including Sen. John McCain, denounced Bachmann, calling her claims “degrading.”

Speaker of the House John Boehner called her statements “dangerous.”

“I’m not sure what the basis of these claims may be, but this is dangerous stuff to be throwing around without a lot of facts,” Boehner said. “And frankly there are enough legitimate issues we need to work with here in town, here in Washington, that we need to work with.”