New Jersey Democrat tied to World Trade Center bombers to stump for DSA-backed candidates in Michigan

Adam Hamawy, the Democratic candidate for New Jersey‘s 12th Congressional District, is traveling to Michigan to support candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, bringing past controversies with him.Hamawy’s campaign confirmed to the Washington Examiner that he is traveling to Michigan ahead of the Tuesday primary to support State Rep. Donavan McKinney, who is running to oust incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) in the state’s 13th Congressional District. The campaign added that he would also be supporting Senate hopeful Abdul el Sayed against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI).El Sayed is not a member or endorsed by the DSA, nor is Hamawy. But the group has mobilized its infrastructure to back el Sayed, who shares many of its policies and ideals and is open about its preference. Speaking with Politico Playbook, Hamawy cast Michigan as the next front in the left flank’s campaign to wrest control of the Democratic Party, a struggle that began with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory last year.“Each victory brings on the next one,” Hamawy said. “Michigan is going to be a big one.”Hamawy will be joined by the DSA-backed Melat Kiros, who defeated the 30-year Democratic incumbent in her Colorado congressional primary. Two campaign officials told the outlet that two of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) political operatives will also be deployed to help McKinney and el Sayed, along with another DSA-backed candidate.But Hamawy’s presence may be the most controversial, bringing with him the baggage of his past associations. Hamawy testified as a witness in defense of Omar Abdel-Rahman, better known as the “Blind Sheikh,” in July 1995, during the latter’s trial around his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Abdel-Rahman was the founder and spiritual leader of al Jama’a al Islamiyya, an Islamist terrorist group involved in political violence against the Egyptian government and the United States.The Democratic congressional candidate formed a close relationship with the terrorist mastermind in 1991, despite his already being charged with providing spiritual support for the assassination of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the time of their meeting. During his 1995 testimony, Hamawy revealed that their relationship included home visits, the provision of translation help, and a 13-hour car ride to Detroit to attend an Islamist conference containing radical rhetoric.Responding to questions from the Washington Examiner in June, a Hamawy campaign spokesperson said their contact and relationship were due to the small size of New Jersey’s Muslim community at the time.“At the time, the man in question was one of very few religious figures in what was then a very small Muslim community in New Jersey — he saw him speak in religious settings in his early 20s,” the spokesperson said. “Dr. Hamawy condemns that man’s violent rhetoric and actions, and all violence, hatred, and terrorism — and he will always. Dr. Hamawy had no contact with this person after they were arrested.”The campaign also stressed Hamawy’s distinguished military service record in Iraq, which included saving the life of Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).Hamawy has also drawn scrutiny over his 1994 trip to Bosnia during its civil war. In a 1996 interview with the Newark-based Star-Ledger, an archived version of which was obtained by Jewish Insider, he discussed his five-week trip to the embattled country with a Chicago-based nonprofit organization called the Benevolence International Foundation.The Benevolence International Foundation was later exposed as a front for al Qaeda and was designated a financier of terrorism by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2002. The 9/11 Commission Report described the foundation as part of an “impressive array of offices” that “covertly provided financial and other support for terrorist activities.”Hamawy’s campaign countered in June that his work with the group came at the suggestion of the Bosnian mission for assisting the Bosnians through a United Nations-approved route.Hamawy is not the only left-wing figure with an uncomfortable association with the World Trade Center traveling to Michigan this weekend. Also attending will be socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who has proven a headache for Democrats over inflammatory comments, including the public assertion that the U.S. “deserved 9/11.”Piker is a strong supporter of all DSA-backed candidates but is focusing on el Sayed’s race, which he described to Politico Playbook as “a very important one.”“I’m used to having underdogs get defeated by moneyed interests over and over again,” he said. “But it’s not going to happen this time.”PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC HOUSE FRONT-RUNNER ADAM HAMAWY FACES SCRUTINY OVER PAST TERRORIST ASSOCIATIONOf the three races that have earned the attention of the DSA, McKinney’s seems the most ripe for victory, with Thanedar on the outs with even establishment Democrats.“No one cares about Shri,” a House Democrat told Politico Playbook. “He was never really taken into the caucus. He’s just an odd duck.”