Former Democratic Party chair, AIPAC deny offering Nasser Beydoun $20M to run against Rashida Tlaib

Nasser Beydoun, an Arab-American businessman who is running for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, on Monday became the second Democratic U.S. Senate candidate to say he was offered as much as $20 million in campaign support to abandon that race and run instead against U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, a claim the person he named as making the offer denies.

In a call with the Free Press, Beydoun said the offer of "approximately $20 million" in "potential" campaign funding to run against Tlaib was made to him by former state Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson during a meeting on Nov. 10. Beydoun also said that Johnson said the funding would come from "the pro-Israeli lobby."

Johnson denied making an offer to Beydoun. "That’s just crazy. I didn't offer him $20 million, or any other amount of money, to run against Rashida. That's insane," he told the Free Press.

On social media Beydoun also suggested the involvement of pro-Israel group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying, "Even knowing where I stand on AIPAC's influence on our elections and foreign policy, the pro-Israel lobby had the nerve to suggest that I would even consider taking a dime from them. ... I will not be bought." In speaking to the Free Press, Beydoun said Johnson did not specifically mention AIPAC but said "he mentioned the pro-Israeli lobby. Nine out of 10 times that means AIPAC."

That group denied any involvement. "AIPAC had absolutely no involvement in any way with this matter," AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann told the Free Press.

Detroit actor Hill Harper said last week he also declined a $20 million offer to drop out of the U.S. Senate race and run against Tlaib. "I'm not going to run against the only Palestinian-American in Congress just because some special interests don’t like her," Harper wrote in a social media post. Harper only identified the source as "one of AIPAC's biggest donors."

POLITICO reported that the offer was made by Linden Nelson, former owner of the now-closed Michigan Motion Pictures studio, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of an alleged Oct. 16 exchange the political donor had with Harper. The Free Press was unable to independently verify the claim or reach Nelson for comment. Wittmann also denied any involvement in that claim in an email to the Free Press, noting Nelson had not donated to the organization in more than a decade.

Beydoun, who lives in Dearborn, said he met with Johnson but never considered the request and that Tlaib, a three-term member of the House, is a friend. Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American in Congress, has been sharply critical of Israeli's handling of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and has called repeatedly for a permanent ceasefire. Beydoun, for his part, recently penned an op-ed in the Detroit News expressing his "unwavering support for the Palestinian people."

"The daily challenges they face, including restrictions on movement, limited access to essential services, confiscation of land, and the brutality of the Israeli military occupation, are stark reminders of the urgent need to resolve this conflict," he wrote.

Three days before the day Beydoun said the meeting with Johnson took place, Tlaib was censured by the U.S. House, largely for her defense of the phrase "from the river to the sea," which many supporters of Israel consider an antisemitic reference to the destruction of the Israeli state. Tlaib has maintained she believes the phrase is an aspirational one that both Israelis and Palestinians could live peacefully in close proximity.

Last week, a campaign finance expert, Nick Pigeon, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said offers such as those being claimed could potentially violate campaign finance restrictions on coordination between independent expenditures and a candidate committee.

Pigeon said while that's an area of campaign finance law that is rarely enforced, "it's pretty sloppy for them to come out and say it in that way."

Staff writers Paul Egan and Arpan Lobo contributed to this report.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: AIPAC denies offering Nasser Beydoun $20M to challenge Rashida Tlaib