Michigan Senate candidate Abdulrahman El-Sayed is receiving fresh backing from a Democratic super PAC that has taken in more than $15 million from donors connected to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, even as El-Sayed campaigns on removing big money from politics.
Senate Majority PAC (SMP) added $10 million to its spending on Michigan’s Senate race after El-Sayed met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in Washington last week, bringing the group’s total investment on his behalf to $30 million, according to the report.
Of the money SMP has raised overall, $15,150,000 is linked to individuals associated with Epstein, the report states. El-Sayed has campaigned alongside allies such as Rep. Ro Khanna, who has criticized what they call the “Epstein class” of wealthy donors influencing American politics.
Documents Cite Nikolic and Khosla
A February 8, 2011 email from Boris Nikolic to Epstein listed venture capitalist Vinod Khosla as a potential dinner guest, according to a document housed in the Department of Justice’s online repository. Records also show Khosla later helped arrange office space for Nikolic, with Epstein advising Nikolic on the arrangement, telling him to “take your office at Khosla… it will come together,” and later to “find what infrastructure of khosal you can use… find a place where you can have someone over for dinner,” according to Department of Justice records dated June 14, 2014, May 31, 2014, and June 5, 2014.
Separately, records cited in the report indicate that in 2014 an Epstein associate suggested he study how businessman Jon Stryker managed negative press following a conviction.
Soros and Bloomberg Networks Also Contribute
SMP has also received contributions from George Soros’ Democracy PAC and Michael Bloomberg’s American Opportunity Action, according to the report.
A 2007 article preserved in the DOJ’s document production lists Soros and Epstein among individuals reportedly involved in an effort to establish a $10 million endowment led by Henry Jarecki. Separately, an FBI victim statement cited in the report places Soros aboard a yacht with Epstein, describing him as a witness to abuse of a victim who was in a drug-induced state. Daily News Cycle has not independently verified the FBI statement.
The report also notes that a fundraiser for El-Sayed is scheduled Monday at the Los Angeles-area home of Jeffrey Soros, George Soros’ nephew, with Pod Save America hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor and former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes listed as co-hosts on the event invitation.
El-Sayed’s campaign has not commented on the specifics of SMP’s donor base in the report.
