Keith Ellison and Michigan Candidates Top the 2017-18 Islamist Money List

PHILADELPHIA – October 5, 2018 – The Middle East Forum’s “Islamist Money in Politics” (IMIP) project has calculated the top-ten recipients of 2017-18 campaign contributions from prominent Islamists. These are funds from individuals who agree with the goals of Khomeini, Bin Laden and ISIS.

Michigan politicians dominate the list. Failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed raised an impressive $80,400 – the most ever in a single election-cycle since IMIP began tracking these donations in 2014. This includes $58,760 from senior officials of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates.

Rep. Keith Ellison (Democratic congressman from Minnesota) is number two on the list, and the top national candidate. Long an Islamist money favorite with a lifetime total of $227,473 in contributions, Ellison has raked in $28,030 from Islamists so far this cycle as he seeks to become Minnesota’s attorney general (though he is currently facing domestic-abuse allegations). Ellison is also deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib (number three on our list) won the 13th Congressional District primary, leveraging $27,944 in Islamist money from across the U.S. to outspend her opponents by almost two-to-one.

All three have close ties to Islamist groups (please see here, here and here), signaling the Islamist lobby’s affections and intentions as they seek to influence U.S. policy.

Other politicians listed include Debbie Stabenow, Senator from Michigan; Jennifer Wexton, running for Congress in Virginia; Ammar Campa-Najjar, running for Congress in California; Dan Kildee, Congressman from Michigan; Pramila Jayapal, Representative from Washington State; Tahir Javed, running for Congress in Texas; Ilhan Omar, running for Congress in Minnesota; and Tom Malinowski, running for Congress in New Jersey.

Standings within the top-ten list will likely change as the Federal Election Commission releases more donation data.

“It is encouraging that American Muslims are running for office,” said Oren Litwin, research fellow for the IMIP program. “But Islamist groups are exploiting this for their own purposes, and funding their allies to advance an agenda incompatible with the Constitution.”

Islamist Money in Politics (IMIP) shines a light on Islamist influence in U.S. politics. To date, it has uncovered 6,078 contributions from a tight group of prominent Islamist activists, totaling more than $2.8 million. While the amounts are small, they provide valuable information on Islamist political goals and strategy, allowing friends of the Constitution to counter their efforts.

The non-partisan project continually updates contribution data to hold politicians accountable and educate the public.

_ _ _ _ _

The Middle East Forum identifies and promotes American interests in the Middle East and works to protect Western civilization from the threat of Islamism.

For immediate release
For more information, contact:
Gregg Roman, Director
Roman@MEForum.org
215-546-5406

See more on this Topic
PHILADELPHIA – August 20, 2024 – A member of Maryland’s “Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention” is out of a job. Ayman Nassar, the second Islamist commissioner to get tossed from the hate crimes board within three months, resigned on August 19 amid public outrage over his role in terror-linked organizations and his history of anti-American, antisemitic, and homophobic hate speech.

Nassar has accused Israel of harvesting the organs of living Palestinians and shared posts referring to Gaza as a “Holocaust.” He is chairman of the Aafia Foundation, a “terrorist support group” that seeks to free “Lady Al Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui and other convicted terrorists from prison.
PHILADELPHIA – July 31, 2024 – Hours after Israel assassinated two leading figures of designated terrorist organizations, Middle East Forum (MEF) experts took to major media outlets to explain what the killings mean for Israel and the region.

Israeli forces killed Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukur in Beirut on Tuesday, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh died Wednesday from an Israeli strike in Tehran. Both men caused the deaths of innocent civilians as well as Israeli and American soldiers.

Writing today for the Wall Street Journal, MEF president Daniel Pipes argued that since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, Israel has unfortunately followed “two opposite policies” simultaneously: “destroy the organization and make a deal with it.”