Michigan Democrat confirms sister-in-law's terror watchlist lawsuit days before Obama campaign appearance
Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed acknowledged Saturday night that his sister-in-law was involved in a federal terrorist watchlist lawsuit during the Obama administration, just days before former President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign alongside him.
El-Sayed was confronted by Fox News senior correspondent Mike Tobin about court documents identifying his sister-in-law, Mariam Jukaku, as a plaintiff in a 2016 lawsuit challenging her alleged placement on the federal Terrorism Screening Database , commonly known as the terrorist watchlist.
"There's reporting in a lawsuit that now backs it up.
And documentation with the lawsuit that Mariam Jukaku, who's your sister-in-law, that she was on the terrorist watch list?" Tobin asked.
"Yeah," El-Sayed responded.
MICHIGAN SENATE DEBATE ERUPTS INTO PERSONAL ATTACKS AS ROGERS, EL-SAYED CLASH OVER ISRAEL, IRAN AND MORE El-Sayed then defended his sister-in-law, insisting she had committed no wrongdoing and turning his criticism toward Republican Senate rival Mike Rogers.
"She did nothing wrong and was captured on that and then sued and got off," El-Sayed said.
"You've got this system where folks are guilty until proven innocent because they've got different kinds of names, because of the infrastructure that people like Mike Rogers set up." The exchange comes as Obama prepares to campaign alongside El-Sayed in Michigan on Oct.
24, ahead of the Nov.
3 midterm election .
EL-SAYED ASKED IF HE BELIEVES AMERICA IS 'READY FOR A MUSLIM PRESIDENT' AHEAD OF SENATE RACE According to the 2016 complaint, Jukaku underwent additional airport screening in 2012, and alleged she was never told why she had been flagged.
The filing said she was believed to have been removed from the watchlist by 2016.
El-Sayed said she sued and won, but a federal appeals court overturned a ruling favoring the plaintiffs in 2021.
A separate lawsuit seeking damages was dismissed in 2017.
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