Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul el Sayed launched a website attacking Republican challenger Mike Rogers over his record on government surveillance and the Patriot Act as the candidates enter the final stretch of the Senate race.
The website, “MikeIsWatching.com,” opens with the words “Mike Rogers is watching you” displayed in large letters while eerie music plays in the background. The page goes on to lay out a series of claims about Rogers’s congressional record.
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) October 6, 2026
Front and center on the website is a quote Rogers made during a 2013 House intelligence committee hearing: “You can’t have your privacy violated if you don’t know your privacy is violated.”
Rogers, a former Michigan congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, voted for the Patriot Act in 2001. His former House office also said he “helped author” the Patriot Act and its renewals, although Rogers was never named as a sponsor of the bill.
Roger’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
The website also highlights Rogers’s support for a 2008 surveillance law that allowed the government to target people believed to be overseas without obtaining an individual court order. The law also swept up Americans’ communications. Rogers defended the legislation at the time, calling concerns that it would violate people’s rights “fear mongering.”
Rogers also voted for the measure that provided retroactive legal protections to telecommunications companies that assisted the government with surveillance following 9/11. He defended the protections, saying companies that helped the government “in good faith” should be shielded from damages.
The site points to several other votes in which Rogers opposed efforts to require warrants for certain government wiretapping within the United States.
In 2013, Rogers voted against a measure that would have stopped the government from collecting people’s phone records. At the time, Rogers was chairman of the House intelligence committee and spoke against the proposal, saying its passage would take the country “back to September 10.” The measure failed by 12 votes.
The website also highlights a 2014 bipartisan proposal that would have required the government to obtain a court order before searching people’s emails, text messages, and photos collected through surveillance programs. Rogers voted against the measure, which passed the House but never became law.
El Sayed’s website also points to a surveillance bill Rogers introduced in 2011 that would have allowed companies to provide customers’ internet and communications data to the government while protecting those companies from lawsuits. The bill passed the House in 2012, and a revised version passed again in 2013, but neither became law after failing to clear the Senate.
The website noted that Rogers has since acknowledged that the FBI “completely abused” surveillance powers and that they “needed to be fixed.”
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Visitors of the page are ultimately directed to el Sayed’s campaign donation platform.
With the general election less than 30 days away, the Democrat is seeking to gain ground in what is shaping up to be one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races. Polling has shown el Sayed and Rogers in a tight contest as Democrats hope to win the seat in purple Michigan.