At least six men who joined Abdul El-Sayed in signing a notorious 2012 letter urging a Muslim Brotherhood purge of Egypt’s media and police have contributed [1] generously to his political campaigns. Records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show their combined giving totaled at least $25,850.
Most of that money went to El-Sayed’s current Senate campaign. The letter was signed by El-Sayed and other “leaders of the Egyptian community” who supported Egypt’s struggling Muslim Brotherhood government and newly elected president Mohamed Morsi, a longtime Brotherhood leader.
At least six men who joined Abdul El-Sayed in signing a notorious 2012 letter calling for a Muslim Brotherhood “purge” of the media and police have also donated handsomely to his two runs for office, mostly to his current Senate campaign, records reviewed by @LevineJonathan show. https://t.co/iWuuvauggo
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 22, 2026 [2]
NEW YORK TIMES now confirming my reporting from weeks ago that El-Sayed signed a letter in support of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2012
(naturally not crediting the Free Beacon at all)
El-Sayed also refused to comment on letter to them!)
https://t.co/VT4OmCQcwp https://t.co/nUyoDiZEyO
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) October 21, 2026 [3]
The signatories declared, “We, leaders of the Egyptian community, support the revolutionary decisions taken by the president, and we call on him to purge the media and the police as quickly as possible.” El-Sayed was among 46 community leaders in the United States whose names appeared on the Arabic letter.
Dr. Hany Saqr, who signed on behalf of the “Egyptian Association in America,” has contributed at least $1,000 to El-Sayed’s Senate campaign, Federal Election Commission records show. The Free Beacon previously reported that Saqr has a long history with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group with longstanding terrorism ties.
Federal prosecutors listed Saqr in a 1992 directory of Muslim Brotherhood leaders based in the United States during the 2008 terror financing case against the Holy Land Foundation. Authorities had seized the directory from the Virginia home of an alleged Hamas operative.
In 2018, Saqr used a Muslim Brotherhood logo as his Facebook profile picture and called Egyptian president Abdel el-Sisi, a Brotherhood opponent, a “dog of the Jews.” El-Sayed, meanwhile, has denied having any ties to the Brotherhood.
El-Sayed’s mother worked for a charity that was later shut down over its association with al Qaeda. His half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, also said in now-deleted social media posts that the family had deep Brotherhood ties and identified their mother as a Brotherhood activist during college in Egypt in the 1970s.
The Midwesterner asked Abdul El-Sayed why he signed a letter to Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt Mohamed Morsi in 2012, urging him to “purge the media and police”.
He smirked and refused to answer: https://t.co/wXH99WFmsR
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) October 22, 2026 [4]
During a Wednesday debate, Republican opponent Mike Rogers cited the 2012 letter and accused El-Sayed of seeking to “defund the police there” in Egypt. El-Sayed responded, “He keeps raising this question about this association with an organization I’ve never been a part of because of my mom who’s a nurse in Missouri?”
“To bring into question my commitment to the Constitution is really beneath you,” El-Sayed added. His answer omitted his mother’s work for the charity shut down over terror fundraising.
Mike Rogers COOKS Abdul for playing victim with muslim brotherhood ties. https://t.co/mkDduaUQDB
— Great Lakes HQ (@GreatLakes_HQ) October 21, 2026 [5]
Another signatory, Dr. Khaled Elsayes, represented “Rebuilding Egypt” and remains in charge of the tax-exempt Pearland, Texas, organization. Archived versions of its website from 2011 and 2012 showed the group supporting the Muslim Brotherhood revolution that briefly brought Morsi to power.
Elsayes has given at least $2,750 to El-Sayed’s Senate campaign, records show, but denied signing the letter. “I didn’t sign anything to support Morsi and didn’t even like his policies,” he told the Free Beacon.
“The only explanation was that Morsi supporters were including some names who are known as successful Egyptian expats to support his policies,” Elsayes said. Another signatory, Ahmed Shehata, later called on the United States to reinstate Morsi and attacked efforts to classify the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Shehata, now CEO of Islamic Relief USA, gave $500 to El-Sayed’s Senate campaign and another $500 to his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. Dr. Azmy Allam, who said “I wished I was there” regarding the Brotherhood-supported revolution, contributed $1,000 to each campaign.
Dr. Hesham Gayar was the largest donor among the letter signers, providing at least $7,000 for El-Sayed’s Senate bid and another $6,600 during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. That earlier amount included $1,600 for catering services, according to records.
Dr. Amr Abbas, another “Egyptian Foundation” signatory, gave $5,500 to El-Sayed’s gubernatorial campaign. El-Sayed has never explained why he signed the letter, has repeatedly ignored Free Beacon inquiries, and declined to discuss it for a New York Times article.
The United States formally classified large Brotherhood branches as terrorist groups in 2025 and 2026. Five of the six signatories who contributed to El-Sayed’s campaigns did not immediately respond to Free Beacon requests for comment.