Michigan Democrat confirms sister-in-law's terror watchlist lawsuit days before Obama campaign appearance

Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan as a Democrat, acknowledged on Saturday that a relative by marriage was part of a federal suit over the terrorist watchlist. The admission arrives only days before former President Barack Obama is due to appear with him on Oct. 24, with the midterm vote set for Nov. 3, according to Fox News.

Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin put the question to El-Sayed, citing court records that list Mariam Jukaku, the candidate's sister-in-law, as a plaintiff in a 2016 case. She alleged that she was flagged for extra screening at an airport in 2012 and never got an explanation. The filing indicated she had probably come off the list by 2016. El-Sayed said she did nothing wrong, sued and prevailed, and he blamed a system built by his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, for treating people with certain names as guilty. Yet a federal appeals court reversed a ruling for the plaintiffs in 2021, and a separate damages suit was thrown out in 2017.

The FBI told Fox News it neither confirms nor denies anyone's watchlist status. The suit does not show wrongdoing by Jukaku or El-Sayed.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →