Michigan’s El-Sayed Says Free Beacon ‘May Have Illegally and Unethically Obtained Recording’ and Employs Diversion Tactic Discussed in Campaign Strategy Call

Michigan’s left-wing Democratic Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, said the Washington Free Beacon “may have illegally and unethically obtained” audio of an internal campaign meeting in which El-Sayed said he wanted to avoid commenting on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death because many of Michigan’s Muslim voters were “sad” about it. In line with his strategy, El-Sayed’s statement did not mention Khamenei.

The Free Beacon broke the news on Monday that El-Sayed told staffers he wanted to avoid making a public statement about the assassination of Khamenei because “there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad” about the late Iranian dictator’s death. The story was based on audio from a private campaign strategy call obtained by the Free Beacon.

Nearly 12 hours after the story broke, El-Sayed released a statement calling the Free Beacon a “rightwing news outlet” that “may have illegally and unethically obtained” the audio recording.

“The fact that a rightwing news outlet may have illegally and unethically obtained a deliberation about how to talk about this by way of a disgruntled former employee is only a distraction,” El-Sayed said in the statement. “They’re distracting from the fact that Donald Trump, Mike Rogers, the entire MAGA base doesn’t want to talk about the pain they’re forcing us all into.”