Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has been ordered by the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board to pay back thousands of dollars to her campaign that were spent in violation of the state’s campaign finance laws.
The board ruled on June 6 to order Omar to pay back nearly $3,500 plus a civil penalty of $500 for spending campaign funds on travel and attorneys’ fees related to her tax returns. Her actions repeatedly violated Minnesota law.
Omar spent the money to pay for plane tickets and hotel accommodations to speak at national events including the Girl UP UN conference in New York City and a political rally in Boston. Omar also traveled to Florida with campaign funds, where she was paid an honorarium to speak.
Minnesota state law requires that campaign funds be used only on direct costs of running a campaign. At the time, Omar was a state representative for Minneapolis, which did not require national travel as part of the campaign.
A Pattern of Violations
State Rep. Steve Drazkowski filed the complaint in 2018 alleging that Omar spent $2,500 on a lawyer to help her in divorce proceedings. Drazkowski later added to the complaint with allegations about Omar’s travel expenses.
“I had observed a long pattern,” Drazkowski said in an interview in March. “Representative Omar hasn’t followed the law. She’s repeatedly trampled on the laws of the state in a variety of areas, and gotten by with it.”
The board instead found that the money Omar paid her lawyer was for help with fixing her tax returns. “The 2016 payment of $2,250 from the Omar committee to the Kjellberg Law Office was not a payment for Rep. Omar’s subsequent marital dissolution,” the board said.
Omar’s Taxes Under Scrutiny
To complicate matters, Omar’s taxes are also under scrutiny after the investigation revealed that she filed joint returns for two years with a man to whom she was not legally married. At the time of the filing, Omar was legally married to another man, whom she has since divorced.
Omar is now married to the man she filed jointly with in 2014 and 2015. Her tax filings have also been corrected. Omar was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018 after serving two years in the Minnesota State House.
She has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and has claimed that he is acting against Muslims with his travel bans and immigration policy.
Omar also drew controversy after making critical comments against Israel that were widely seen as anti-Semitic.
As Vice President Mike Pence has said, the fact that she serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is a travesty and should not continue.
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