A Democratic campaign organizer was dismissed after claiming that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed accepted political donations from overseas, which could violate federal campaign finance law.
“You know, [El-Sayed] has people from overseas that donate to him,” Abdoul Beckwith told an undercover reporter with O’Keefe Media Group during a secretly recorded conversation.
The reporter responded that, if the allegation were accurate, the contributions could breach federal campaign finance rules.
Beckwith, identified by O’Keefe Media Group as a regional field organizer for the Michigan Democratic Party, agreed with that assessment.
“No, it is not allowed,” Beckwith said.
Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from directly or indirectly contributing to candidates in federal, state or local elections.
The restriction does not apply to U.S. citizens or green card holders living abroad, who are permitted to donate to political campaigns.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan challenging El-Sayed in the closely watched Senate contest, has made the Democrat’s alleged connections to overseas groups including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood a major focus of his campaign.
Rogers has accused El-Sayed of declining to distance himself from those organizations.
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During the undercover discussions, Beckwith appeared to offer an explanation for El-Sayed’s alleged reluctance.
“He can’t just say, you know, ‘No, I don’t support Hamas,’ you know, ‘I reject all of them,’ because he’s going to lose the people that brought him up in the first place,” Beckwith said.
“So when Abdul is going to denounce that, they’re going to think that he is siding with the genociders,” he added, seemingly referring to Israel.
El-Sayed’s campaign rejected Beckwith’s allegations.
“This junior staffer has never been employed by the Abdul for Senate campaign – his comments here are untrue, wildly misinformed, and not reflective of the campaign,” campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner told O’Keefe Media Group.
“The Abdul for Senate campaign is fully in compliance with FEC regulations,” Richner said.
The Michigan Democratic Party also dismissed Beckwith’s statements and confirmed that he had been fired.
“This individual has no knowledge of the Abdul campaign’s internal operations and his claims are categorically false. He is no longer employed with the coordinated campaign,” the party said in a statement provided to O’Keefe Media Group.
El-Sayed’s campaign said it raised $30.7 million in the last quarter, roughly three times the $9.7 million reported by Rogers during the same period.
