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.
President talks ‘Trump Ocean,’ trades jokes with Tennessee crowd as Kid Rock kicks off sprawling rally
Supreme Court climate case could bankrupt oil companies, send gas prices soaring, experts warn
Trump calls for Ukraine to replace Zelenskyy after clash over Russia diesel deal: ‘Get a new president’
Christa Pike discharged from hospital, returned to prison after botched execution, attorneys say
That Time an Activist Claimed 13 Million Blacks Are Killed by Police Each Year, Then Claimed ER Trip After the Internet Mocked Him
5-Time WNBA MVP Gets Roasted for Award Acceptance Speech That Ignores Her Past
President Trump blasts Nobel Peace Prize snub with blistering list of accomplishments: ‘WOW!’
Judicial Watch’s Thomas Fitton slams FBI’s ‘drip-drip’ release for 75,000 pages of Trump-Butler shooting files
Trump Admin Finally Restores Sanity Back to Title IX, Erases Biden’s Crazy Trans Sports Agenda
Democrats Campaigning Against Their Own Congressional Nominee Who Happens to Be in Federal Prison
Boxing Legend Mike Tyson Delivers Controversial Letter to Trump, Makes Bold Midterm Prediction
Erie shooting leaves nine dead, governor says
Zelensky Flips Out Over Trump’s Russian Fuel Deal, But New Report Says the Deal Is His Fault
Who is Sally Yates? Cornell rape-review pick was fired by Trump after refusing to defend travel ban
Letitia James faces new push to boot her from Cornell rape probe over alleged bias: court docs
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.
President talks ‘Trump Ocean,’ trades jokes with Tennessee crowd as Kid Rock kicks off sprawling rally
Supreme Court climate case could bankrupt oil companies, send gas prices soaring, experts warn
Trump calls for Ukraine to replace Zelenskyy after clash over Russia diesel deal: ‘Get a new president’
Christa Pike discharged from hospital, returned to prison after botched execution, attorneys say
That Time an Activist Claimed 13 Million Blacks Are Killed by Police Each Year, Then Claimed ER Trip After the Internet Mocked Him
5-Time WNBA MVP Gets Roasted for Award Acceptance Speech That Ignores Her Past
President Trump blasts Nobel Peace Prize snub with blistering list of accomplishments: ‘WOW!’
Judicial Watch’s Thomas Fitton slams FBI’s ‘drip-drip’ release for 75,000 pages of Trump-Butler shooting files
Trump Admin Finally Restores Sanity Back to Title IX, Erases Biden’s Crazy Trans Sports Agenda
Democrats Campaigning Against Their Own Congressional Nominee Who Happens to Be in Federal Prison
Boxing Legend Mike Tyson Delivers Controversial Letter to Trump, Makes Bold Midterm Prediction
Erie shooting leaves nine dead, governor says
Zelensky Flips Out Over Trump’s Russian Fuel Deal, But New Report Says the Deal Is His Fault
Who is Sally Yates? Cornell rape-review pick was fired by Trump after refusing to defend travel ban
Letitia James faces new push to boot her from Cornell rape probe over alleged bias: court docs
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.”
