The man who attempted to ambush Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with a question about his supposed allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood – which El-Sayed parlayed into a viral clip for his campaign – is the son of a political operator who recently received $۲۵۰,۰۰۰ for “canvassing and influencer marketing” against El-Sayed, the Guardian has learned.
In the now-famous exchange, a man – first identified by the Handbasket as Thomas “Tommy” Teepell – asked El-Sayed if he would “disavow” the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed said he would, but then asked: “What are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?” What followed was a five-minute exchange that has drawn over ۵۰ million views across several social media platforms, in which El-Sayed queries the man about the guarantees of religious freedom in the constitution.
Teepell is the son of Timothy “Timmy” Teepell, a longtime strategist for the Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley as well as former Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. Timmy Teepell’s firm, Breakthrough LLC, was paid $۲۵۰,۰۰۰ on ۲۹ September by America Next, a ۵۰۱(c)(۴) non-profit with which it shares a Baton Rouge office suite, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The filing says the money would fund the canvassing and influencer marketing in opposition to El-Sayed. It is the only independent expenditure the group has reported since ۲۰۱۵, when it paid OnMessage Inc for television advertising backing Bobby Jindal’s presidential campaign.
America Next has been trying to gin up “organic” town hall opposition to El-Sayed, as the Handbasket report noted. On ۱ October, a member of the University of Michigan College Republicans, saying he was acting for America Next, reportedly offered students $۲۰۰ to boo and question El-Sayed at a town hall in Flint.
The same Baton Rouge suite is also the registered address of a Christian non-profit for which Teepell is the registered agent, and whose four directors include two other Teepell family members. Hawley’s campaign committee has also paid Breakthrough. (The Handbasket report also outlines the close relationship between Sean Feucht and the elder Teepell.)
Pennsylvania business records list Timmy Teepell as a director of Sean Feucht’s ministry, which owns a townhouse on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Timmy Teepell, Thomas Teepell, America Next and Hawley’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nothing in the filings shows that Thomas Teepell was paid by Breakthrough or America Next.
Jindal launched America Next as a policy non-profit in ۲۰۱۳, and its website still publishes his columns. The group does not disclose its donors. In the year to July ۲۰۲۴ its tax filings reported $۵,۰۶۶,۰۰۰ in contributions.
Other groups’ tax filings show where some of the money came from. American Action Network, a group the Guardian has previously described as a dark-money outfit and which is connected to House Republican leaders, gave America Next $۵۰۰,۰۰۰ for “issue support” in its tax year ending in June ۲۰۲۲, according to its tax filing for that year. Secure Florida’s Future, a ۵۰۱(c)(۴) based in Tallahassee, gave America Next $۲۵۰,۰۰۰ in ۲۰۲۲, according to its own filing.
In ۲۰۲۲, America Next paid OnMessage Inc $۵,۰۲۰,۸۰۸ for “media services and consulting”, against total expenses of $۱۰,۱۳۰,۶۳۸, according to its ۹۹۰ filing for the year.
America Next has also funded Republican Super Pacs, giving them at least $۱,۴۷۵,۰۰۰ since ۲۰۱۸, FEC records show.
The ministry’s tax filings do not show when he joined either. Its most recent public return, for ۲۰۲۰, lists three directors: John Feucht, Robert Zoellner and Alvin Chun. It does not mention Timmy Teepell or OnMessage, as RNS reported in ۲۰۲۴. The ministry’s revenue that year was $۵,۳۱۴,۱۴۸, up from $۲۸۳,۵۲۶ in ۲۰۱۹. IRS records now classify Sean Feucht Ministries as a church, a category that is not required to file public returns, and list no return after ۲۰۲۰.
In June ۲۰۲۵, former staffers accused Feucht of “potential financial crimes” and spiritual abuse, and said that “the members of Mr Feucht’s board have potentially failed in their fiduciary duty to exercise appropriate oversight”, as RNS reported.
In a video posted on ۱۱ June ۲۰۲۵, Feucht said “none of those allegations are true”, describing his accusers as “embittered, angry, upset … former volunteers” who “know nothing about our financial situation”. He said: “Every single penny that has been raised that you guys out there have donated has gone to fulfill its kingdom-ordained purpose.”
Separately, a California donor is suing Sean Feucht Ministries in federal court for fraud. The complaint, filed in March, alleges that a $۲۵۰,۰۰۰ donation solicited in ۲۰۲۳ for Feucht’s Let Us Worship tour was “diverted, in whole or in part, to other uses controlled by Mr Feucht”. A judge dismissed the original complaint in September, finding that the fraud claims had not been pleaded with enough specificity, but allowed the donor to amend it, and an amended complaint was filed on ۳۰ September. The ministry has argued that the claims are time-barred and barred by the church autonomy doctrine.
Their website testimony named Zoellner as a board member of Sean Feucht Ministries, and alleged that former key employees “were never made aware of their names”. It did not name Timmy Teepell. Feucht did not respond to RNS’s request for comment at the time.
Feucht has prayed in public for the elder Teepell’s political work. Laying hands on Teepell at an event in Florida, Feucht said, “We pray that Timmy would put more revivalists in public office,” according to RNS. A video shows Feucht praying over Teepell and his family. Teepell was also on the bill at Feucht’s “Hold the Line” conference at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on ۱۱ September ۲۰۲۱, scheduled to speak on “۲۰۲۲ Forecast and Polling”, according to the event’s listing on Eventbrite, which gives his name as “Timmy Teeple”.
Hawley spoke at Feucht’s Let Us Worship rally on the National Mall in October ۲۰۲۰, according to a Daily Caller video, and afterwards posted that it was a “huge privilege to be on the mall tonight with thousands and thousands of Christians gathered to worship and pray”.
There, Feucht led the crowd in prayer for Hawley, “calling on God to elevate ‘men and women of faith’ into positions of political power”, RNS reported at the time. Feucht’s channel also carries a video of Hawley addressing his Let Us Worship event in Washington in ۲۰۲۲.
The Guardian has previously reported on Canadian cities cancelling Feucht’s performances.
The Guardian emailed Feucht for comment via Sean Feucht Ministries.
Teepell reportedly became Jindal’s chief of staff when Jindal took office as Louisiana governor in January ۲۰۰۸, and left the post in ۲۰۱۱ to become a partner at OnMessage. He managed Jindal’s ۲۰۱۶ presidential campaign, the Guardian reported in ۲۰۱۵.
OnMessage’s biography of Teepell, archived in ۲۰۱۹, describes him as Jindal’s “first chief of staff” and says he “served as lead consultant for senator Josh Hawley’s upset victory over incumbent Democrat senator Claire McCaskill” in ۲۰۱۸. Hawley’s campaign paid OnMessage $۷,۴۸۹,۱۸۱ during that election cycle, FEC records show.
The younger Teepell joined Hawley’s Senate office as an intern in ۲۰۲۳ and rose to operations director before leaving in February, the Guardian reported on Monday, citing staff records. Before that, he was a part-time associate at OnMessage Inc from May ۲۰۲۰ to May ۲۰۲۳, according to his LinkedIn profile. After leaving Hawley’s office he became political director for Philip Sarnecki’s campaign for governor of Kansas. Sarnecki lost the Republican primary on ۴ August.
Republicans have pressed the Muslim Brotherhood line against El-Sayed for several weeks. His opponent Mike Rogers, raised alleged Brotherhood ties during a debate, and Donald Trump has said without evidence that El-Sayed is “۱۰۰%” Muslim Brotherhood. There is no evidence that El-Sayed has been involved with the group.
The Michigan Daily found no evidence that Rogers’ campaign was involved in the plan to disrupt the Flint town hall, and FEC records show no payments from Rogers’ campaign to Breakthrough.
The El-Sayed campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
