Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has been fined for violating Minnesota campaign finance rules after improperly using funds for travel and to pay a lawyer to correct her tax returns, according to the Daily Mail.
The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board ordered Omar to personally pay her own campaign $3,469.23 and pay a civil fine of $500 for violating campaign finance rules.
The Daily Mail reports:
The violations date back to Omar’s time as a representative in the Minnesota state House in 2016 and 2017, and the reimbursement amount represents spending of campaign funds that the board says were not allowed by state law.
That includes a payment of $1,500 her campaign made to a law firm following the formation of a ‘crisis committee’ in August 2016 to respond to allegations that Omar ‘married to her brother as part of an immigration scheme,’ according to the board’s report….
The board found that the law firm, originally tasked with reviewing tax and immigration records to rebut the marriage claim, incidentally discovered an error in Omar’s personal taxes and was reimbursed for paying an accountant to correct it, an expense that the board ruled an impermissible use of campaign funds.
The board also found that Omar’s campaign committee made several improper expenditures for her travel to Boston, Washington DC, New York and Florida.
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In a statement, Omar told the Daily Mail, “I’m glad this process is complete and that the Campaign Finance Board has come to a resolution on this matter. We have been collaborative in this process and are glad the report showed that none of the money was used for personal use, as was initially alleged.”
