Washington ― Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Monday sent a letter to the campaign of Democratic hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, demanding that he stop referring to Rogers as a “pharma lobbyist” who received a $14 million payout from the industry, or risk being sued for defamation.
El-Sayed has made the remarks in national media interviews and on social media.
“That’s a whopper of a lie,” Rogers said in a video statement to The Detroit News.
“His web of lies might work in a Democrat primary, but I learned as an FBI agent you can’t let people get away with it. That’s why today I’m putting Abdul El Sayed and his campaign on notice with a cease and desist.”
El-Sayed of Ann Arbor is seeking the Democratic nomination for Senate in a bruising primary battle against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak. The winner of the primary is expected to face Rogers in the November election to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.
Rogers spokeswoman Alyssa Brouillet said El-Sayed’s campaign had confirmed receipt of the letter, though El-Sayed’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Monday morning.
The letter from Rogers’ lawyers directs El-Sayed to “cease and desist” his calling Rogers a pharma lobbyist and from making the $14 million payout claim “in all future public statements,” arguing the false statements are defamatory under Michigan law and threatening to “pursue all legal remedies” if El-Sayed fails to comply.
“These statements are demonstrably false. The term ‘lobbyist’ is defined in statutory and regulatory authorities under both federal and Michigan law,” Rogers attorneys from the firm Lex Politica wrote.
“Mr. Rogers is not ― and never has been ― a registered lobbyist,” they added.
Rogers’ lawyers said in the letter that defamation exists where a party makes a false statement of fact about someone, publishes it to a third party and does so with “actual malice,” that is, with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.
“Your statements harm Mr. Rogers’ reputation ― calling a United States Senate candidate a ‘pharma lobbyist’ who pocketed $14 million from the pharmaceutical industry before national audiences implies conflict of interest concerns, casts aspersions of his professional activities and deters voters and supporters from associating him.” the Rogers attorneys wrote.
The lawyers for Rogers’ campaign requested a letter of compliance with their demands by noon Tuesday. El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond Monday morning to a request for comment.
El-Sayed, a longtime podcaster and former public health official, has referred to Rogers as a pharmaceutical industry lobbyist on social media dating to November and in multiple interviews on national TV networks this month, including ABC News, MSNOW, and on the “Scott McFarland Report.”
El-Sayed, for example, said recently on ABC that Rogers “took a $14 million payout as a pharma lobbyist, and then has the audacity to tell us that he has anything to say about affordability or saving lives.”
On the McFarland report last week, El-Sayed said Rogers “took a $14 million payout as a pharma lobbyist and moved to Florida.”
“I’m going to eat that man’s lunch,” El-Sayed said of Rogers. “I’m going to define him in ways that his golf buddies won’t forget. So I’m looking forward to the matchup.”
It’s unclear what El-Sayed is referring to regarding the pharma claims. 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.
Rogers latest financial disclosure detailing his personal finances lists no non-investment income earned from a pharmaceutical company.
But ― like El-Sayed ― Rogers got an extension on his 2025 report so that it’s not due until later this summer.
mburke@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rogers threatens suit over El-Sayed ‘lie’ calling him ‘pharma lobbyist’
Reporting by Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
