A Michigan public-records request for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed’s county emails referencing Oct. 7, 2023, will not be fulfilled until Nov. 6 — three days after the election — according to The Federalist, the outlet that filed the request with Wayne County.
What the request sought
The Western Journal reports that Wayne County received a Freedom of Information Act request on Sept. 18 seeking emails to or from El‑Sayed between Oct. 5 and Nov. 1, 2023, containing Oct. 7‑related keywords.
Extensions, fees, and a closure
According to The Federalist’s account, the county first issued a 10‑day extension, then quoted a $757.20 fee and said retrieval would take at least 75 days. The Western Journal adds that the county also closed the FOIA request.
Narrowed scope, new request, new deadline
The Federalist says it narrowed its ask to only emails sent by El‑Sayed from Oct. 7 to Oct. 15 and offered to drop some keywords. After calling to discuss the change and request expedited release, the outlet says the county told it to file a new request, claimed another 10‑day extension, and set a Nov. 6 deadline — three days after the election.
What the requester alleges
The Federalist claims the county had already retrieved the original records but refused to pare them down to the tighter window. “The county doesn’t need another extension to look for records it found weeks ago. It would take just a few minutes to filter those search results to the nine days we requested,” the outlet said.
The legal gray area
Per the Western Journal’s summary of Michigan law, FOIA allows anyone to inspect, copy, or receive public records; it permits certain delays and extensions and does not define when records must be made available.
Why it matters
El‑Sayed is a Democratic Senate candidate and previously worked for Wayne County, the Western Journal notes. The content of the emails is unknown; the timing of their potential release, as described by The Federalist, falls after Election Day.
Separate context cited by the source
The Western Journal links reader interest to prior controversy over El‑Sayed’s comments following a March 12 incident. Citing MS NOW, it reports El‑Sayed said “hurt people, hurt people” after what the source describes as a terrorist attack on the Temple Israel synagogue, and quotes teacher Elise Otis criticizing him and saying she would vote for “Rogers.”
