Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing renewed scrutiny from Republican critics regarding his mother's questioning by federal investigators more than two decades ago. The questioning occurred as part of an investigation into an Islamic charity where his mother worked.
El-Sayed's Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., has accused El-Sayed of misleading Michigan voters about his views on the Muslim Brotherhood, pointing to reported associations involving members of El-Sayed's family. El-Sayed has previously stated to Fox News that he has "never been" and will "never be" a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Fox News Digital is not aware of any direct ties between El-Sayed and the organization.
The controversy centers on a 2004 raid by federal authorities on the Missouri office of the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), where El-Sayed's mother, Fatten Elkomy, was employed. The Columbia Daily Tribune reported that federal agents questioned Elkomy for approximately three hours during the investigation. IARA was shut down by the federal government in 2008 due to alleged violations of federal sanctions and terrorism-related financing restrictions, including allegations involving funding for Islamic militants and groups such as the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Elkomy was not charged in connection with the investigation, and Fox News Digital has found no evidence that she facilitated transfers of funds to terrorist organizations. The U.S. Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment regarding the government's findings concerning IARA's alleged connections to the Muslim Brotherhood or why Elkomy was questioned.
El-Sayed has sought to distance himself from his mother's reported associations, emphasizing that she did not raise him. He was raised in Michigan by his father and stepmother after his parents divorced when he was 3 years old. El-Sayed told NBC's Tom Llamas in October, "I have no ties. We have no ties." He added, "I have never had these conversations with my mother, I wasn't raised by my mother."
Scrutiny has also extended to El-Sayed's campaign fundraisers and events with Islamic leaders, some of whom have reported ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or have been accused of antisemitic remarks. The controversy has also involved El-Sayed's campaign appearances with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who previously made remarks about 9/11. El-Sayed's former Democratic primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., endorsed Rogers, citing concerns about El-Sayed's approach to the safety of Michigan's Jewish community and his campaign appearances with Piker.
El-Sayed declined to comment on Piker's remarks in an April interview with POLITICO but later disavowed them during an August appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Amy Mek, founder of the RAIR Foundation, expressed concerns about national security and El-Sayed's silence. She pointed to social media posts by El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, who wrote in 2012 that members of their family have "long been" members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdelhadi also referenced family fear of FBI surveillance in a 2016 article. El-Sayed has not publicly addressed his half-sister's statements in detail but called the tweets "not serious" in an NBC interview, accusing the interviewer of using "hearsay evidence from a tweet."