Ilhan Omar’s campaign is on track to have paid $1 million to a single consulting firm – which just so happens to be run by her husband Tim Mynett.
In total, one-third of her campaign spending has now gone to that firm, E Street Group.
By of the end of year, Omar’s campaign committees paid Mynett’s firm $500k. His firm was paid an additional $189k weeks after announcing their marriage. And the spending is showing no sign of slowing down.
As Fox News reports:
Now, campaign data show Omar has paid Tim Mynett’s consulting firm a total of more than $878,000 since 2018.
In the first quarter of this year, Mynett’s E Street Group has received more than $292,000 from Omar’s campaign for digital advertising, fundraising consulting and research services, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported in April, citing data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The arrangement is possible because of a 1960s federal anti-nepotism statute that prohibits members of Congress from hiring relatives for government jobs but does not block family members from doing campaign work.
A Virginia-based conservative group called the National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint against Omar last year, after it was disclosed that Omar and Mynett were lovers. The group sought an FEC investigation.
Omar and Mynett weren’t married until March. Ilhan announced the marriage in an Instagram post less than two months after denying allegations that the two were having an affair. Had the two been married at the time the payments started, that would’ve immediately raised red flags.
Omar had previously been ordered to reimburse her campaign $3,500 after the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board found she illegally used campaign funds in 2016 and 2017. She was also fined $500. The violating payments included reimbursements for personal travel expenses, in addition to hiring a law firm for services related to an inquiry into her personal tax returns.
Soon-after she was hit with an FEC complaint in late August for allegedly using her campaign to illegally reimburse the travel expenses of Mynett. The complaint was filed one day after Mynett’s wife alleged the affair. Travel expenses totaled over $21,000 and were not itemized, which is required.
As of writing, 75% of the “Squad” has been investigated for campaign finance abuses, and I think Ilhan may be worth another look.
