Documents Reveal True Nature of Candidate-Linked ‘Charity’
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has made family a visible part of his campaign, including advertisements featuring the parents of his stepmother, Jacqueline El-Sayed.
But a newly published report is drawing attention to a very different part of El-Sayed’s family history: his biological mother’s employment by an organization that the U.S. government later designated for financing terrorism.
According to The Midwesterner, a Michigan conservative news outlet, El-Sayed’s biological mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy, worked for the Islamic American Relief Agency-USA beginning in 1999 and remained associated with it until at least 2004.
The distinction is important: The report concerns Elkomy’s employment and does not establish that El-Sayed participated in or knew about any wrongdoing.
IARA presented itself as a humanitarian organization assisting orphans, providing health care and helping disadvantaged people in conflict zones. But the U.S. Treasury Department designated the international organization and its U.S. branch in 2004 over alleged terrorism-financing activities.
I proudly endorse this message from my grandparents ❤️ pic.twitter.com/T6x1U2CFLa
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) August 12, 2026
Treasury said information available to the government indicated that international IARA offices had provided “direct financial support” to Osama bin Laden.
The government further alleged that IARA had previously been affiliated with Maktab Al-Khidamat, an organization co-founded and financed by bin Laden that preceded al-Qaeda.
“IARA, MK and [Osama bin Laden] commingled funds and cooperated closely in the raising and expenditure of funds,” the Treasury Department said.
According to the government, IARA also participated in a program with an institute controlled by bin Laden that assisted Taliban fighters. Treasury alleged that overseas IARA branches provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to bin Laden in 1999.
The Midwesterner report says Elkomy’s connection went beyond simply having her name on an employee roster.
White House correspondent and podcaster Natalie Winters pointed to federal records involving IARA’s operations in Iraq.
EXCLUSIVE: Abdul El-Sayed’s mother helped process tens of thousands in overseas transfers for an Islamic charity later convicted of secretly funneling $1.375 MILLION into Saddam-era Iraq—and blacklisted over alleged al-Qaeda, Taliban and Hamas ties. 🧵
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) August 17, 2026
“Elkomy’s link was not a one-time event or loose association,” Winters wrote. “A contemporary report says she worked for IARA-USA beginning in 1999. A newly uncovered federal filing puts her name on transfer paperwork and correspondence involving the charity’s Iraq operations.”
According to Winters, one request carrying Elkomy’s name sought a transfer of $24,607.34 “to Iraq office.” A subsequent record described a wire for the same amount through Arab Bank in Amman, with ISRA listed as the beneficiary.
Those records establish a documented employment and administrative connection, but they do not by themselves prove Elkomy knowingly financed terrorism.
Elkomy denied wrongdoing when controversy surrounding IARA erupted in 2004.
“I’ve been working there serving orphans and children with at least one deceased parent, and it breaks my heart they’re not going to get any help,” she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the time.
There is also a significant question about how close El-Sayed was to his biological mother during this period.
Elkomy’s link was not a one-time event or loose association. A contemporary report says she worked for IARA-USA beginning in 1999. A newly uncovered federal filing puts her name on transfer paperwork and correspondence involving the charity’s Iraq operations.
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) August 17, 2026
His parents divorced after moving to the United States in the early 1980s. In a 2017 speech, El-Sayed said his mother later “remarried a gentleman who was working as a translator in the Middle East and moved back to the Middle East.”
That history makes it impossible to infer from the available information that El-Sayed was involved in his mother’s work.
Still, the revelation is receiving attention because other people in El-Sayed’s family and political orbit have separately faced scrutiny over Islamist organizations or controversial political statements.
His father-in-law, Tayeb Jukaku, has been a major financial supporter of El-Sayed’s political efforts and serves on the founders committee of the Islamic Society of North America. A July Washington Free Beacon report examined ISNA’s historical connections to the Muslim Brotherhood, citing records and allegations concerning financial ties.
That was not isolated. The filing identifies Elkomy in Iraq-related transfer correspondence spanning 1999 to 2002—including a $20,772.88 transaction and an “Iraqi Children” sponsorship ledger. pic.twitter.com/h6j43E5D4K
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) August 17, 2026
El-Sayed has also received prominent support from Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, whose past remarks have repeatedly generated controversy. Piker infamously said “America deserved 9/11,” a statement for which he later said his wording was inappropriate.
Another family member, El-Sayed’s half-sister, a University of Chicago professor, was arrested following an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement demonstration after authorities accused her of assaulting a police officer, according to Fox News. An arrest or accusation, of course, does not itself establish guilt.
None of these relationships proves that El-Sayed shares the actions, beliefs or alleged misconduct of relatives, donors or political supporters. Candidates are responsible for their own conduct, and family associations require particular care when drawing conclusions.
But El-Sayed’s campaign has itself placed family prominently in its political presentation, making scrutiny of that presentation inevitable.