No member of the so-called “Squad” is a stranger to controversy, but Ilhan Omar continues taking it to the next level.
Just last month Omar announced her marriage to Tim Mynett on Instagram after denying that the two had a relationship for months. Mynett’s prior wife alleged in court papers that he walked out on their marriage after admitting to having an affair with Omar, which Omar denied. Omar filed for divorce from her prior husband Ahmed Hirsi less than two months before the affair allegations were brought to light.
Between October and December of last year, Omar’s campaign committees paid Mynett’s firm E Street Group $215,000, more than half of total disbursements over that time period (most of which was after her campaign was over). In total, E Street Group received $525,000 from Omar’s campaign, or forty percent of her campaign’s overall spending.
Had the two been married at the time, that would’ve immediately raised red flags (and still could now). 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.
And now, there’s more!
According to the Washington Free Beacon:
Omar’s new committee filings, posted Wednesday afternoon, show that during the first three months of the year, the campaign paid $292,905 to the E Street Group
he cash, which reportedly went toward an array of services that included fundraising and advertisements, accounted for over 40 percent of the campaign’s $674,892 in disbursements. Omar raised $456,374 during the quarter.
As of writing, 75% of the “Squad” has been investigated for campaign finance abuses. I think Ilhan may be worth another look.
