Michigan Senate Candidate Mike Rogers Falsely Claims to Have Seen Osama bin Laden's Body 'With My Own Eyes'
Michigan Senate candidate and former congressman Mike Rogers has been accused of misleading supporters in a fundraising email by claiming he saw Osama bin Laden's dead body 'with my own eyes.' This statement implies a direct involvement in the 2011 raid that killed the al-Qaida leader. However, Rogers was not present in Abbottabad, Pakistan, during the raid, nor was he in the White House Situation Room. At the time, as chair of the House intelligence committee, he was informed of the raid via a phone call from then-CIA director Leon Panetta while at his home in Washington D.C. While Rogers did see a photograph of bin Laden's dead body, he supported the decision not to make the graphic images public, citing concerns about inflaming public opinion and conspiracy theories. This claim is part of a broader pattern where Rogers has been criticized for exaggerating his role in counter-terrorism efforts, particularly since his opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim doctor, entered the Senate race. 
