James O'Keefe has released a video in which an alleged campaign official for Abdul El-Sayed appears to discuss overseas donors contributing to El-Sayed's campaign — raising serious questions about potential illegal foreign campaign contributions.
"You know, [Mohamed] has people from overseas that donate to him," the individual allegedly says in the video, before acknowledging that it is not allowed.
"You know, [Mohamed] has people from overseas that donate to him."
Federal law generally prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions or donations in connection with U.S. elections. The video's allegations have not, by themselves, established that illegal contributions were made or accepted — but they are now on tape, in the campaign's own words as presented by O'Keefe, and they demand answers.
The video also raises questions about an alleged warning that denouncing Hamas could cost El-Sayed political support, adding to the scrutiny surrounding his campaign. El-Sayed, a physician and former Wayne County health official who ran for governor of Michigan in 2018, is now seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Michigan — a seat Republicans are targeting in their push to hold the Senate in November.
O'Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas who now runs the O'Keefe Media Group, has built his reputation on undercover recordings of campaign staffers saying on camera what campaigns would never say in public. His past stings have ended careers and triggered investigations, which is exactly why campaigns fear them.
The Federal Election Commission should examine any credible evidence of potential violations and determine whether campaign finance laws were broken. If the allegations are substantiated, there must be accountability.
The rule at the centre of the video is not a technicality. Federal campaign finance law bars foreign nationals from contributing money to American candidates at every level, precisely so that overseas money cannot buy influence in U.S. elections — and campaigns are responsible for screening the donations they take in. El-Sayed is running in a crowded Democratic primary for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, where Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, against rivals including Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. A foreign-donor scandal in a primary is the kind of story that follows a candidate all the way to November — if he gets there.
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