Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was found by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board on Thursday to have committed several campaign finance violations — and its findings have revived old questions about the legality of her marriage.
In July 2018, Minnesota State Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) filed a complaint with the board against the Neighbors for Ilhan (Omar) campaign committee, which had supported her campaign for state representative. He claimed that she had improperly spent campaign funds on legal work related to her divorce. He later filed additional complaints that she had improperly spent campaign funds on out-of-state travel.
The board’s investigation into Omar found several violations. It noted that while none of Omar’s legal expenses had been for her divorce, she had spent $1,500 on legal expenses related to her personal taxes that were not sufficiently related to the campaign. Furthermore, the board found that some of her out-of-state travel expenses were not related to her legislative duties. She has been ordered to pay reimbursements to her campaign, to file amended campaign finance statements, and to pay a civil fine of $500 to the state.
The board’s report also noted that Omar and Ahmed Hirsi, her current husband, “filed joint tax returns for 2014 and 2015.” That could add fuel to persistent allegations that Omar had been married to two men at the same time — one of whom, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, City Journal noted in 2016, was rumored (though never proven) to be her brother.
Multiple Sources Confirm GOP Senator Attempted IVF Expansion During NDAA Talks
Trump Comes Out Against FISA ‘If it Doesn’t Come with the Save America Act,’ Complicating Congressional Showdown
Is AI Making Us Dumb?
Trump admin puts alleged ‘birth tourism’ scheme on notice as expert delivers warning to hospitals
Teen accused of killing stepsister on Carnival cruise ship ordered detained before murder trial
Robert De Niro Says He Can’t Love America While ‘Xenophobic Tyrant’ Trump is President
Breaking: Gavin Newsom and His Wife Are Reportedly Under DOJ Investigation
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Calls Trump an ‘Upgrade’ Over Biden – Days After Blaming Him for an NBA Loss
Three more alleged antifa cell members indicted on terrorism charges over Texas ICE attack
ALERT: Massive B-52 Stratofortress Has Crashed at Edwards Air Force Base – Video
Judge dismisses xAI lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets
Live explosive device found near Homeland Security office in Cleveland, forcing mass evacuations
American hiker vanishes on tropical trek as flash floods, mudslides turn jungle getaway into desperate search
Same-name candidate disqualified from key Senate race over alleged Dem scheme to confuse voters
Mainstream Media Deceptively Twists the Truth About World Cup Star’s Jesus-Honoring Celebration
Omar issued a statement in 2016 denying the allegations:
In 2002, when I was 19 years old, Ahmed Hirsi (whose name before he received citizenship was Ahmed Aden), the father of my children and love of my life, and I, applied for a marriage license, but we never finalized the application and thus were never legally married. In 2008, we decided to end our relationship in our faith tradition after reaching an impasse in our life together.
I entered into a relationship with a British citizen, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, and married him legally in 2009. Our relationship ended in 2011 and we divorced in our faith tradition. After that, he moved home to England. I have yet to legally divorce Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, but am in the process of doing so. Insinuations that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is my brother are absurd and offensive.
Multiple Sources Confirm GOP Senator Attempted IVF Expansion During NDAA Talks
Trump Comes Out Against FISA ‘If it Doesn’t Come with the Save America Act,’ Complicating Congressional Showdown
Is AI Making Us Dumb?
Trump admin puts alleged ‘birth tourism’ scheme on notice as expert delivers warning to hospitals
Teen accused of killing stepsister on Carnival cruise ship ordered detained before murder trial
Robert De Niro Says He Can’t Love America While ‘Xenophobic Tyrant’ Trump is President
Breaking: Gavin Newsom and His Wife Are Reportedly Under DOJ Investigation
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Calls Trump an ‘Upgrade’ Over Biden – Days After Blaming Him for an NBA Loss
Three more alleged antifa cell members indicted on terrorism charges over Texas ICE attack
ALERT: Massive B-52 Stratofortress Has Crashed at Edwards Air Force Base – Video
Judge dismisses xAI lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets
Live explosive device found near Homeland Security office in Cleveland, forcing mass evacuations
American hiker vanishes on tropical trek as flash floods, mudslides turn jungle getaway into desperate search
Same-name candidate disqualified from key Senate race over alleged Dem scheme to confuse voters
Mainstream Media Deceptively Twists the Truth About World Cup Star’s Jesus-Honoring Celebration
Since 2011, I am happy to say that I have reconciled with Ahmed Hirsi, we have married in our faith tradition and are raising our family together.
The rumors persisted into the 2018 election, when Omar was elected to Congress. She told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the stories had been written by “fake journalists on bigoted blogs.”
The campaign finance board’s report notes that Omar filed joint tax returns with Hirsi. But by her own admission in 2016, she was not yet legally divorced from Elmi. There is no legal basis for a joint filing by an unmarried couple.
In a statement, Drozkowski noted that the campaign finance board’s findings had found Omar violated campaign finance law and noted that the report “raises even more troubling questions.”
