Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed recently confirmed his sister-in-law was a party in a federal lawsuit concerning the government's terrorist watchlist during the Obama administration. This acknowledgement surfaced just days before former President Barack Obama is slated to appear alongside El-Sayed for a campaign event.
When questioned about reports regarding a lawsuit and documentation indicating his sister-in-law, Mariam Jukaku, was on the terrorist watchlist, El-Sayed responded affirmatively, stating, "Yeah."
El-Sayed promptly defended Jukaku, asserting her innocence and directing criticism toward his Republican Senate opponent, Mike Rogers.
"She did nothing wrong and was captured on that and then sued and got off," El-Sayed stated. He further critiqued the system, describing it as one where "folks are guilty until proven innocent because they've got different kinds of names, because of the infrastructure that people like Mike Rogers set up."
The discussion occurs as former President Obama prepares to join El-Sayed on the campaign trail in Michigan on October 24, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
Details of the Federal Lawsuit
According to a 2016 legal complaint, Jukaku experienced additional screening at airports in 2012 and reported that she was never informed of the reasons for being flagged. The filing indicated that she was believed to have been removed from the watchlist by 2016.
While El-Sayed claimed his sister-in-law "sued and won," a federal appeals court subsequently overturned a ruling that had favored the plaintiffs in 2021. Furthermore, a separate lawsuit seeking monetary damages was dismissed in 2017.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains a policy of neither confirming nor denying the watchlist status of individuals.
It is important to note that the federal watchlist lawsuit itself does not establish any wrongdoing by either Mariam Jukaku or Abdul El-Sayed.
Broader Political Context
This recent exchange follows earlier, separate allegations concerning purported connections between El-Sayed's family and the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed's campaign has vehemently denied these claims, labeling them "racist and untrue." In response to these allegations, Republican challenger Mike Rogers described them as "disqualifying" on Saturday.