El-Sayed Confirms Sister-In-Law Was On Terror Watchlist

Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed admitted on Saturday night that his sister-in-law was part of a federal terrorist watchlist lawsuit from the Obama administration, just days before former President Barack Obama plans to campaign with him. Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin confronted the candidate during an interview using court documents that identified Mariam Jukaku as a plaintiff in a 2016 case challenging her alleged placement on the Terrorism Screening Database.

Tobin asked if reporting backed up claims about the lawsuit and confirmed whether Jukaku, who is El-Sayed's sister-in-law, was actually on the list. El-Sayed simply replied yes. He then defended her by insisting she committed no wrongdoing during this ordeal. Instead, he turned his criticism toward Republican Senate rival Mike Rogers.

She did nothing wrong and was captured on that database before suing and getting off, according to El-Sayed. He argued that people are treated as guilty until proven innocent because of names in the system. This infrastructure exists because folks like Mike Rogers set it up, he stated. The confrontation happens as Obama prepares to campaign alongside El-Sayed in Michigan on Oct. 24 ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election.

The 2016 complaint noted that Jukaku underwent extra airport screening in 2012 and claimed she was never told why she had been flagged. The filing said officials believed she was removed from the watchlist by 2016. El-Sayed said she sued and won, yet a federal appeals court overturned a ruling favoring the plaintiffs in 2021 while a separate lawsuit seeking damages was dismissed in 2017.

The FBI stated it does not confirm or deny an individual's watchlist status to protect privacy. It is U.S. government policy to neither confirm nor deny a person's inclusion in the Terrorist Screening Dataset, commonly known as the terrorist watchlist, the agency told Fox News. These comments follow separate allegations about El-Sayed's family having Muslim Brotherhood connections which his campaign calls racist and untrue. Rogers called those allegations disqualifying on Saturday.

The watchlist lawsuit does not establish wrongdoing by Jukaku or El-Sayed.