Photo via Washington Examiner

El Sayed creates ‘Mike Rogers is watching you’ website highlighting work on Patriot Act

Read the original at Washington Examiner ↗
Cite

Rowe, R. (2026, October 6). El Sayed creates ‘Mike Rogers is watching you’ website highlighting work on Patriot Act. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4755963/el-sayed-mike-rogers-website-patriot-act-surveillance-opposed-required-warrants-for-searches/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Washington Examiner · collected 2026-10-06 · by Rena Rowe

Quick Summary

Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan's U.S. Senate seat, launched a website called "MikeIsWatching.com" criticizing his opponent Mike Rogers, a Republican former congressman, over Rogers’s support for government surveillance and the Patriot Act. The site features claims about Rogers's voting record on legislation related to privacy issues, including his vote in favor of the original 2001 Patriot Act and subsequent legislation that allowed broad surveillance powers. El Sayed highlights instances where Rogers opposed measures requiring warrants for certain types of government wiretapping within the U.S., aiming to portray Rogers as supportive of invasive surveillance policies.
Written by AI on 2026-10-06, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, launched the website MikeIsWatching.com to attack his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, over Rogers's support of the Patriot Act and related surveillance legislation. The site features ominous music and accuses Rogers of violating privacy by passing laws that enable government surveillance. Specifically, it cites a quote from Rogers where he said, "You can’t have your privacy violated if you don’t know your privacy is violated," highlighting his vote for the Patriot Act in 2001 and his role authoring its renewals. The website also mentions Rogers's support for a controversial 2008 surveillance law that allowed targeting individuals overseas without warrants.

Written for “Mike Rogers Surveillance Website” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mike Rogers Surveillance Website
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 47 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the campaign between Abdul el Sayed and Mike Rogers: one reports on a website launched by El-Sayed while the other covers a debate where they exchanged insults.”
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 4 of 40 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different events - one is about a website launch while the other covers a Senate debate between the candidates.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Washington Examiner · 4256 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rena Rowe
117 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored a legal victory Wednesday after a state appeals court cleared the way for his administration to continue implementing an annual tax surcharge on high-value second homes.
🔮 Recommended Stories The victories also disrupted Republican control of state government in several traditionally red states, although the degree of legislative control Democrats will have varies by state.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · Democrats gain five governorships: What to know
🔮 The race is among the contests that could help determine control of the House after the midterm elections.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · Lee wins Nevada’s 3rd District
🔮 The race is among the contests that could help determine control of the House after the midterm elections.
2026-11-04 · assertive framing · Lee wins Nevada’s 3rd District
🔮 Voters across the country will head to the polls Tuesday to determine control of Congress, decide key gubernatorial and state legislative races, and weigh in on local contests.
2026-11-03 · assertive framing · When do polls close in your state?
🔮 President Donald Trump is set to hold his final event before the midterm elections in Washington at the newly reopened Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday at 2 p.m. The event marks the close of the president’s busy month of crisscrossing the country in an attempt to boost GOP candidates.
🔮 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) indicated Democratic leaders could discuss disciplinary action against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) after she broke with her party to endorse Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, deepening an already bitter divide among Michigan Democrats.
🔮 Vice President JD Vance is set to rally Republican voters in Rome, New York, at 10:45 a.m. Monday.
🔮 President Donald Trump is set to speak at a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday at 7 p.m. as he works to shore up Republican support just days before the 2026 midterm elections.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · WATCH LIVE: Trump holds rally in Daytona Beach
🔮 A federal judge overseeing a legal fight over President Donald Trump’s plans to remake Washington, D.C.’s East Potomac Golf Links said Friday she would investigate whether administration officials misled the court and violated professional ethics rules during the proceedings.
Also by Rena Rowe
Democrats gain five governorships: What to know
2026-11-04 · Washington Examiner
Lee wins Nevada’s 3rd District
2026-11-04 · Washington Examiner
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 117 articles by Rena Rowe →

Topics

House Michigan Rogers Senate the Patriot Act

Subjects

Rogers PERSON · 14× House ORG · 4× Senate ORG · 4× Michigan GPE · 3× El Sayed’s PERSON · 2× Mike Rogers PERSON · 2× Abdul el Sayed PERSON · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× House intelligence committee ORG · 1× Republican NORP · 1×

Narrative

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.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-06
🔮 Rogers defended the legislation at the time, calling concerns that it would violate people’s rights “fear mongering.”

Claims (24 extracted, 1 hedged)

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. asserted
candidates → launch → 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. asserted
music → open → background
The page goes on to lay out a series of claims about Rogers’s congressional record. uncertain
page → go → record
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.” asserted
privacy → make → hearing
Rogers, a former Michigan congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, voted for the Patriot Act in 2001. asserted
Rogers → vote → 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. asserted
Rogers → say → bill
Roger’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner. asserted
campaign → respond → 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. asserted
government → highlight → order
The law also swept up Americans’ communications. asserted
law → sweep → communications
Rogers defended the legislation at the time, calling concerns that it would violate people’s rights “fear mongering.” asserted
it → defend → rights
Rogers also voted for the measure that provided retroactive legal protections to telecommunications companies that assisted the government with surveillance following 9/11. asserted
that → vote → 9/11
He defended the protections, saying companies that helped the government “in good faith” should be shielded from damages. asserted
that → defend → damages
The site points to several other votes in which Rogers opposed efforts to require warrants for certain government wiretapping within the United States. asserted
Rogers → point → States
In 2013, Rogers voted against a measure that would have stopped the government from collecting people’s phone records. asserted
that → vote → 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.” asserted
passage → speak → September
The measure failed by 12 votes. asserted
measure → fail → 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. asserted
that → highlight → programs
Rogers voted against the measure, which passed the House but never became law. asserted
which → vote → House
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. asserted
companies → point → 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. asserted
neither → pass → Senate
The website noted that Rogers has since acknowledged that the FBI “completely abused” surveillance powers and that they “needed to be fixed.” asserted
they → note → powers
Visitors of the page are ultimately directed to el Sayed’s campaign donation platform. asserted
Visitors → direct → 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. asserted
what → seek → races
Polling has shown el Sayed and Rogers in a tight contest as Democrats hope to win the seat in purple Michigan. asserted
Democrats → show → Michigan
💬Give feedback · no sign-in needed

No sign-in needed for now. Your note is sent without a name, so it cannot be answered.

🕘History 🎫Support