Writings published by the half-sister of Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed reveal that federal agents searched the home she shared with their mother years ago. The disclosure adds new details to an ongoing campaign controversy involving the candidate’s family history and past ties.
In a 2016 essay about a New York vigil for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, University of Chicago professor Eman Abdelhadi recalled federal law enforcement conducting raids on mosques, Muslim charities, and homes, explicitly mentioning “including my own.” The essay did not specify the exact date when the search took place.
Court records indicate that the siblings’ mother, Fatten Elkomy, worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency, a Missouri-based charity, from 1999 through at least 2004. Federal agents raided the organization’s offices in October 2004. During that same month, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the charity’s global network as a supporter of terrorism, citing financial backing for Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and Hamas.
Although Elkomy was never charged with a crime, government exhibits from subsequent federal prosecutions referenced her more than a dozen times. Those documents detailed her involvement in wire transfers and a request to route more than $24,000 to the charity’s office in Iraq. The charity’s executive director and a board member ultimately pleaded guilty to illegally moving money to Iraq in violation of American sanctions. Furthermore, the organization itself admitted in 2016 to funneling approximately $1.4 million into the country.
In an additional essay published in 2024, Abdelhadi wrote that as a teenager she observed her mother sorting through family belongings to remove items that might be misinterpreted during a potential raid. She also noted that her mother periodically received telephone calls from the FBI.
The resurfaced writings emerge shortly after the final debate between El-Sayed and his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. During the debate, El-Sayed addressed attacks regarding his family’s background by attributing them to his mother’s professional history as “a nurse in Missouri.” Rogers has repeatedly questioned El-Sayed regarding both Elkomy’s tenure at the Islamic American Relief Agency and social media posts from 2012 in which Abdelhadi described their mother’s past activism with the Muslim Brotherhood as a college student in Egypt during the 1970s.
El-Sayed has consistently denied that he or his immediate family maintain any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. In an interview with NBC News, he stated that he had never discussed the subject with his mother, noting that his parents divorced when he was three years old and that he was subsequently raised by his father and stepmother. Representatives for El-Sayed’s campaign have previously asserted that Elkomy’s responsibilities at the charity were focused on assisting orphaned children. Campaign representatives did not immediately respond to inquiries seeking comment on the newly highlighted essays.
