McQuade rejects guilt by association for charity employees
Barbara McQuadeUniversity of Michigan law professor and former U.S. attorney, interviewed by Michigan Public
Discussing Rogers's allegation about El-Sayed's mother, McQuade says wrongdoing by a charity's senior officials does not establish wrongdoing by every employee. She says a nurse in another country was unlikely to know what leaders elsewhere were doing.
“it certainly is not an indictment or guilt by association of everybody who works in the organization”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Mike Rogers's allegation about Abdul El-Sayed's campaign received funding from a terrorist organization
At a September 10, 2026 Republican National Convention midterm speech, Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Abdul El-Sayed was funding his campaign with money from “terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.” Rogers did not name a donor, amount, or campaign-finance filing in the speech. The research documents an outside-support chain involving CAIR Action, Unity & Justice Fund, and a Super PAC supporting El-Sayed, while examining whether any record establishes the specific allegation.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
McQuade discusses why an employee cannot be presumed responsible for wrongdoing by charity leaders, while explaining the role of financial prosecutions.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
McNamara asked about El-Sayed's mother's work as a nurse for IARA-USA in Kenya.
After the quotation
McQuade also explains that financial prosecutions can disrupt terrorist funding even when other charges are harder to prove.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
She challenges the inference of individual culpability from employment at a charity whose leaders committed financial offenses.
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More from this case
Read the full caseRogers says he has never called El-Sayed a terrorist
“No, I don’t. I’ve never called him a terrorist. I’ve never called him a terrorist.”Read statement
Donor Khaled Elsayes says he did not sign the 2012 letter backing Morsi
“I didn’t sign anything to support Morsi and didn’t even like his policies”Read statement
El-Sayed tells Rogers at the final debate he has never been part of the Muslim Brotherhood
“He keeps raising this question about this association with an organization I've never been a part of.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "McQuade rejects guilt by association for charity employees". First published: 2026-11-01. Last updated: 2026-11-01. https://disputeindex.com/events/7608-discussing-rogers-s-allegation-about-el-sayed-s