El-Sayed confirms sister-in-law's watchlist lawsuit before Obama campaign stop

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed acknowledged Saturday night that his sister-in-law was a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging her placement on the terrorist watchlist, a disclosure made just days before former President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign alongside him in the state. The admission came during an interview with Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin, who presented court documents identifying Mariam Jukaku in a 2016 filing.

Tobin asked El-Sayed if documentation backed up reporting that Jukaku was on the federal Terrorism Screening Database. El-Sayed confirmed her involvement, stating, "Yeah." He defended his family member by asserting she committed no wrongdoing and criticizing the system that flagged her. "She did nothing wrong and was captured on that and then sued and got off," El-Sayed said, attributing the infrastructure of such screening to his Republican rival, Mike Rogers. He characterized the process as one where individuals are treated as guilty until proven innocent based on their names.

The 2016 complaint alleged that Jukaku underwent additional airport screening in 2012 without being told why she was flagged. The filing indicated she was believed to have been removed from the watchlist by 2016. While El-Sayed stated that Jukaku sued and won, a federal appeals court overturned a ruling favoring the plaintiffs in 2021. Additionally, a separate lawsuit seeking damages was dismissed in 2017.

The FBI told Fox News that it is U.S. government policy to neither confirm nor deny a person’s inclusion in the Terrorist Screening Dataset. The exchange follows earlier allegations regarding El-Sayed's family's purported connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, which his campaign labeled "racist and untrue." Rogers called those allegations "disqualifying" on Saturday.

Obama is set to join El-Sayed for a campaign event in Michigan on Oct. 24, ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election. The watchlist lawsuit itself does not establish wrongdoing by Jukaku or El-Sayed.