A Democratic organizer was dismissed after alleging that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed had accepted campaign donations from overseas, a practice that could violate federal election 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 replied that, if the allegation were true, such contributions could breach federal campaign finance regulations.
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,” he 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 who live abroad, both of whom may legally donate to political campaigns.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan running against El-Sayed in the closely watched Senate contest, has made the Democrat’s alleged connections to overseas terror groups, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, a key focus of his campaign.
Rogers has accused El-Sayed of declining to disavow those organizations.
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During the hidden-camera exchange, Beckwith appeared to offer an explanation for El-Sayed’s position.
“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, apparently referring to Israel.
An El-Sayed campaign spokesperson 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,” Roxie Richner told O’Keefe Media Group.
“The Abdul for Senate campaign is fully in compliance with FEC regulations,” Richner added.
The Michigan Democratic Party also sought to distance itself from Beckwith’s remarks, confirming 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 reported raising $30.7 million in the previous quarter—roughly three times the $9.7 million collected by Rogers during the same period.