What happens when a major political party nominates a radical Islamist to run for the US Senate against a former intelligence analyst? We are all about to discover the answer to that question in Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed's connections to radical Islam do not flow exclusively through his father-in-law, it turns out. The Free Beacon reported five weeks ago that Tayeb Jukaku had funded his son-in-law's Senate campaign through a PAC while maintaining positions in organizations connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Both the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) were unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation prosecution involving money-laundering of material support for Hamas and terrorism.
El-Sayed has his own family connections to similar activities, the New York Post reported late yesterday:
Far-left Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed’s mother once worked for an organization that was designated a “global terrorist” group and accused of funneling funds to Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and Hamas, according to a new report.
El-Sayed’s birth mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy, worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) from 1999 until at least 2004, when the US Department of Treasury linked the group to terrorism, The Midwesterner reported.
IARA had dozens of offices across the globe and billed itself as a humanitarian organization focusing on health care, orphans, and disadvantaged people in areas of conflict.
But the organization, also known as the Islamic African Relief Agency, “provided direct financial support” for the mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks, Osama Bin Laden, the Treasury Department alleged in 2004.
Fatten Elkomy didn't just work as a receptionist at IARA. Her fingerprints are on several of the transactions uncovered by The Midwesterner's review of Treasury filings in the case:
The announcement alleged IARA also supported Hamas and other terrorist organizations through at least 2003.
In March 2007, the Department of Justice charged IARA-US with a 33-count indictment for illegally transferring funds to Iraq, violating federal sanctions. A superseding indictment followed in January 2008, and in 2010 two of IARA’s board of directors pleaded guilty to conspiring to move more than $1 million to Iraq.
Evidence used to secure those convictions in USA v IARA included 945 exhibits detailing phone calls, faxes, wire transfers, tax forms, emails, bank statements and other documents.
The list of exhibits, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in May 2010, references Elkomy 14 times, documenting participation in eight wire transfers, and five recorded calls between 1999 and 2002, including an IARA-USA transfer-request form for $24,607.34 to its Iraq office.
Elkomy apparently did not get prosecuted. However, she took part in the operations that financed radical Islamist terrorism, including al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. When the Treasury froze IARA assets in 2004, its statement specified where the funds went:
IARA Support for Usama bin Laden (UBL), al Qaida and the Taliban
IARA is identified as a non-governmental organization (NGO) formerly affiliated with Maktab Al-Khidamat (MK), which was co-founded and financed by UBL and is the precursor organization of al Qaida.
Information available to the U.S. indicates that international offices of IARA provided direct financial support for UBL. IARA, MK and UBL commingled funds and cooperated closely in the raising and expenditure of funds. IARA engaged in a joint program with an institute controlled by UBL that was involved in providing assistance to Taliban fighters.
The statement goes on to assert that IARA funds were used with the explicit purpose of finding a safe haven for bin Laden, with the most likely option being Mali. Other IARA funds went to Hamas, specifically to fund terror attacks on Israelis:
As of early 2003, information available to the U.S. shows that IARA was responsible for moving funds to the Palestinian territories for use in terrorist activities, notably serving as a conduit to Hamas in one Western European country. In part, funds were raised through IARA collection boxes marked Allah and Israel , signaling the funds would be directed towards attacks against Israelis.
Within the last year, IARA was reportedly linked to the Belgium office of the Al-Aqsa Foundation, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, pursuant to E.O. 13224.
In other words, it appears that El-Sayed has terror connections in both his family and his wife's family. The financing for his primary campaign came through his father-in-law, who continues to work with organizations linked to terrorist networks and shady financing. It's very difficult to see all of this and not conclude that El-Sayed has been set up as a front man for radical Islamist terrorism to penetrate the US Senate.
Why didn't this come out in the primary? To be fair, the Free Beacon did report on Jukaku weeks ahead of that contest, and El-Sayed won despite it ... or perhaps because of it, given the anti-Semitic fever gripping Democrats these days. This demonstrates that the oppo-research file on El-Sayed has more to reveal, and this may just be an opening salvo.
Democrats wanted to run revolutionaries and radicals in these midterms. They'd better be prepared for the consequences of that decision. You can bet that Mike Rogers will make those consequences as painful as possible, and that the pain will not be limited to Michigan.
Update: Color me surprised and unsurprised at the same time:
BREAKING @jewishinsider via @matthewakassel: “Michigan Jewish Dems circulate letter endorsing Republican Mike Rogers for Senate”https://t.co/iKQV5CMpIk
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) August 19, 2026
American Jews have had strong historical and even theological ties to the Democrat Party. Now that Democrats are defining tikkun olam into support for Islamists, both appear ready to break for good.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
Help HotAir continue to report on the Democrats’ radicalism and inform voters as our nation faces a crossroads. Join HotAir VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member