Ilhan Omar used her influence to pressure Minnesota officials to fire her husband, a new report claims.
Amid numerous scandals, including an alleged affair, Omar is threatening her husband, according to David Steinberg of PJ Media. Reports surfaced recently that Omar’s husband, Ahmed Hirsi, wants a divorce after Omar was publicly accused of having an affair with a married political consultant.
Report: Omar got husband fired to conceal scandals
After Omar was accused of having an affair with consultant Timothy Mynett, reports surfaced that Hirsi wanted to divorce Omar and that the two were living separately. When the affair rumors surfaced, Hirsi was reported to be unhappy already with Omar’s constant travel for work in Congress, which left him to raise their three children alone. But the bombshell divorce filing raised the possibility that Omar’s business travel was more than just business.
Sources told the New York Post that Hirsi was reduced to couch surfing with friends and living in Omar’s luxury condo in downtown Minneapolis, while she was living apart from Hirsi as an “open secret.” But when Omar was pressed by CBS, the congressman denied separating from her husband, adding not at all suspiciously that she had “no interest in allowing the conversation about my personal life to continue.” The media, after showing some momentary interest, accepted her excuses and moved on.
Now, Steinberg reports that Omar’s husband was fired from his position as a senior policy aide to Minneapolis City Councilwoman Alondra Cano. He lost his job on June 14. Sources told Steinberg that Omar wanted Hirsi to “become reliant upon her assets and income.” Steinberg reports that Omar’s separation from Hirsi is regarded as an “open secret” in Minneapolis’s Somali community and that a divorce “would likely magnify Omar’s legal exposure.”
Before the affair allegation surfaced, Omar had already been accused of campaign finance violations by Minnesota campaign officials in June. She was also accused of illegally filing her taxes with Hirsi while still married to her previous husband and alleged brother, Ahmed Elmi. Furthermore, the affair accusation raised questions whether Omar’s campaign payments to Mynett’s political consultancy, including more than $20,000 for travel, were not in fact being used to finance their affair – an egregious violation if true.
After being allegedly cheated on and then fired from his job, Hirsi has plenty of reasons to be angry. But considering Omar’s $174,000 salary and a $250,000 book advance, it’s not hard to see a motive for him to stay in a miserable situation. Moreover, Steinberg notes that Scott Johnson of Power Line Blog was told the following about Hirsi by sources in the Minneapolis Somali community:
- that he will not go to jail for Omar;
- that while Omar did indeed marry her brother (Ahmed Elmi) for fraudulent purposes, Hirsi did not know at the time that she had married Elmi;
- that Omar is threatening Hirsi he would be in trouble along with her if the truth were to come out;
- that Omar has asked him to state publicly that all is well with their marriage even though it is completely done and finished; and
- that in fact they are living apart and have been divorced under Islamic law (although they remain legally married).
Omar fears being outed as adulterer to Muslim voters
Perhaps most significant of all, Hirsi’s name has been mentioned in connection with the allegation that Omar married her brother, Ahmed Elmi, before divorcing him and marrying Hirsi. Omar has consistently denied the allegation, calling it a Republican smear. But public records indicate that Omar was actually living with Hirsi when she was supposed to have been married to Elmi.
Omar fueled the “Republican conspiracy theory” last week by mysteriously deleting a tweet wishing her father a happy father’s day. The father’s name, Nur Said, appeared to match the surname of her alleged brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Omar responded that Nur Said was a nickname and complained of continued efforts to smear her.
But Omar is apparently worried about losing Muslim voters if her affair gets out, Steinberg reports. Omar and Hirsi married in 2002 in the Islamic faith tradition before separating in 2008. They didn’t get legally married until 2018, after a lapse in which Omar married and divorced Elmi – although, according to evidence, the two never really separated.
Until now, Omar has been lucky to escape scrutiny from a largely compliant media. A handful of dedicated bloggers at Powerline Blog have done much of the research on her scandals. But a nasty public divorce? Good luck covering that one up.
It’s not hard to see why someone with so much baggage would go to such lengths to hide it all. And given what has been alleged of Omar so far – and what has become clear about her character from her own public statements – it’s not exactly hard to believe either.
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