On Election Day, Americans are getting yet another reason not to let Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed come anywhere near elected office.
No matter how hard El-Sayed tries to do a “makeover” as a progressive Democrat, skeletons keep popping out of his closet and waving to voters.
It has become obvious that El-Sayed has surrounded himself with jihadists and Jew-hating bigots throughout his life, and he has only severed inconvenient relationships for the purposes of electability. Voters should not be fooled by this taqiyah routine.
A woman who previously worked for El-Sayed's campaign is among 12 defendants now facing federal charges in connection with an alleged campaign of threats, vandalism, and intimidation targeting Michigan's Jewish community and University of Michigan officials.
And the details of what prosecutors say happened are revolting. According to a Justice Department announcement issued Friday, federal authorities have charged four additional defendants in a case involving coordinated efforts to force university officials and businesses to sever their relationships with Israel.
That brings the total number of defendants to 12.
Among the eight defendants originally indicted in June was Mariam Odeh, 24, of Dearborn, Michigan, who previously worked for El-Sayed's Senate campaign.
As The Detroit News reported, campaign finance disclosures showed that Odeh received two salary payments totaling $747.
El-Sayed's campaign subsequently confirmed that Odeh had worked as an hourly organizer and departed on April 15. The campaign initially described her employment as lasting two weeks, before clarifying that she had been hired in February.
What exactly were federal prosecutors investigating?
According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly orchestrated an intimidation campaign targeting University of Michigan leadership, university police personnel, the Jewish Federation of Detroit, and businesses with perceived connections to Israel.
The alleged conduct included vandalizing homes, smashing windows, spray-painting threatening messages, and throwing glass jars containing noxious chemicals into family residences.
Investigators also described displays involving fake corpses placed on lawns, along with threatening symbols associated with Hamas.
The suspects allegedly documented their activities on social media, warning their targets that they could not hide. Prosecutors say the intended message was clear: End your relationships with Israel or face additional retaliation.
Odeh was specifically accused of participating in a 2024 incident at a Rolls-Royce Solutions America facility in Detroit, where protesters allegedly padlocked doors and painted slogans including "FREE PALESTINE" and "LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA."
She was charged with conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate and foreign commerce, an offense carrying a potential five-year prison sentence.
The charges remain allegations pending conviction in a court of law. U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon did not mince words in announcing the latest indictments.
"From Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas, those who terrorize Jews have been the bad guys," he said. "As Americans, our job is to fight the bad guys."
The timing couldn't be more politically awkward for El-Sayed.
His campaign has spent the final days before Tuesday's election dealing with an extraordinary rupture involving Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11), whom El-Sayed defeated in the August Senate primary.
Stevens stunned Michigan Democrats on Sunday by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers, appearing alongside him at a Detroit church.
Stevens has criticized El-Sayed's association with radical left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, an outside political advertisement linking grocery prices to American support for Israel, and what she described as the exclusion of her supporters from his campaign.
As RedState's Ben Smith reported, Stevens subsequently endured an extraordinary backlash from Democrat politicians and commentators, some of whom suggested her fiancé had influenced her decision. Stevens rejected that baseless smear.
"That is sexism dressed up as political analysis," she declared.
Meanwhile, another controversy has emerged over a New York Times report portraying El-Sayed as enjoying substantial support from Michigan's Jewish community.
The newspaper published an article titled "Jewish Leaders in Michigan Urge Support for El-Sayed's Senate Bid," citing an open letter purportedly signed by hundreds of people identifying themselves as Jewish voters, or as the paper deceptively put it, “Jewish leaders.”
But critics immediately questioned the vetting of the signatory list.
Journalist Jonathan Levine and commentator AG Hamilton highlighted an apparent prank entry bearing the name "Jack Mehoff" on the circulated list.
Also: The headline says "Jewish Leaders in Michigan Urge Support for El-Sayed’s Senate Bid." But read the text: "A group of Jewish voters in Michigan is urging support for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed....The letter, signed by more than 500 people who identify as Jewish leaders or voters in the state...." It's just 500 (now 1000) randos, most of whom are probably members of JVP and many of whom are probably not even actually Jewish but simply "identify" as Jewish. The only reason this was even deemed newsworthy is bc @nytimes is in the tank for Dems.
— Affirm Reality ✡️ 🕎 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 💜 🤍 💚 (@MirabelleW18) November 3, 2026
The New York Times will openly and without shame publish a list of “Jews for Abdul” which includes the name “Jack Mehoff” and then completely ignore that this fatally compromises the whole story and just power through it Don’t even see a correction anywhere to this piece — incredible
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) November 3, 2026
That’s an apt pseudonym for this kind of drivel.
And the Times carrying water for a sharia-loving, Islamo-communist charlatan matters in a state where left-leaning Jewish voters have been split over El-Sayed's candidacy.
If Jewish people can’t find it in themselves to vote against Abdul El-Sayed, then we have to start wondering if Democrat voters have fallen prey to Stockholm Syndrome.