Candidate for Michigan Senate Seat Threatens Litigation Over 'Lobbyist' Claims
Republican Mike Rogers sent Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a cease-and-desist letter.
Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, has claimed the “physician” mantle for himself, despite never earning the title. But it’s his claims about his Republican opponent that led Monday to a threat of litigation.
In a direct-to-camera video filmed on a Michigan lake, Former congressman Mike Rogers takes issue with Mr. El-Sayed’s allegation the presumptive GOP nominee was a “pharma lobbyist” who took a $14 million payout.
“Former Army officer, FBI special agent, worked on an auto-assembly line, business owner, heck, even the host of a TV show — well, that’s all true. But taking $14 million payouts from special interests? You guessed it, a whopper of a lie,” he says. “Abdul El-Sayed would much rather lie to Michigan voters about who I am than be honest to you about who he is.”
Mr. El-Sayed, who leads Democratic candidates in the August primary, made the offending claim in an appearance this month on ABC News Live. Then he made it again on social media.
“Mike Rogers is a guy who voted to raise prescription drug prices 60 times,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “Architected the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic. Took a $14 million payout as a pharma lobbyist.”
Mr. Rogers’ cease-and-desist letter went out Monday. “We are writing to you today because it has come to our attention that over the last seven months you have repeatedly made the false claims that Mr. Rogers is a ‘pharma lobbyist’ who received a ‘$14 million payout’ from the pharmaceutical industry across multiple public platforms — including CNN, MSNBC, and your own social media accounts,” wrote attorneys Jessica Furst Johnson and Jesse Vazquez of D.C.-based law firm Lex Politica.
“Accordingly,” the 5-page letter continues, “we demand that you immediately and permanently cease and desist from referring to Mr. Rogers as a ‘pharma lobbyist,’ or any variation of that characterization, and from claiming that he received a ‘$14 million payout’ from the pharmaceutical industry — in any form, across all platforms and public statements.”
Even The Detroit News struggled to make sense of El-Sayed’s claims.
“It’s unclear what El-Sayed is referring to regarding the pharma claims,” the paper said, though it later deleted that line without explanation. “After leaving Congress in 2015, Rogers went into national security consulting, did commentary for CNN and worked as an advisor for telecommunications companies, including Nokia Corp., Telefonica, AT&T and IronNet Cybersecurity.”
The letter holds El-Sayed to a tight timeframe to confirm compliance — noon Tuesday.
“If we do not receive confirmation of compliance by that date, or if you repeat these claims in any form following receipt of this letter, Rogers for Senate will pursue all available legal remedies without further notice, including but not limited to an action for defamation seeking injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and any other relief to which our client may be entitled,” the letter reads.
On Instagram, Mr. El-Sayed offered a response that’s somewhere between tongue-in-cheek and malicious compliance.
“When I say Mike Rogers, DON’T think of a pharma lobbyist,” he wrote in the caption, “which he most definitely has never been.”
“My mistake. He just spent so much time in Congress helping the pharmaceutical industry that I thought he was a pharma lobbyist,” he said in the video. “He did, after all, vote to raise prescription drug prices while he was there. He was one of the architects of the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic. Then, after Congress, he made $14 million, which he should probably explain how he made, but it was not as a pharma lobbyist.”
Greg Manz, a senior adviser with the Michigan Republican Party, said Mr. El-Sayed’s deception on Mr. Rogers’ record fits a pattern.
“In reality, this isn’t the only topic he is lying about,” he told The Washington Star. “To this day, Abdul El-Sayed is cultivating the image of a practicing doctor.” The candidate has never been licensed as a physician.
“Simply put,” Mr. Manz added, “El-Sayed’s campaign is built on distortions, deceptions, and outright lies.”
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