Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) could — and should — soon face a criminal investigation over the numerous scandals swirling around her, according to Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.
The leader of the conservative watchdog group said that there is “more than enough evidence” to justify opening a criminal probe into Omar’s alleged misdeeds, but that the Democrat is being protected by the media. Fitton’s group has filed complaints with the House Ethics Committee to investigate Omar over alleged tax, marriage and campaign finance fraud.
“She’s only been in office six or seven months. But it’s well past time to be fully investigated. Because publicly available information is more than enough for a criminal investigation,” Fitton said.
Mounting allegations
Omar has long been criticized on the right and shielded from scrutiny by the left, over allegations that she married her brother in an immigration fraud scheme. But neither the Democrat’s strange marital history, nor her numerous financial controversies have received much in the way of mainstream media attention.
Reports of an alleged affair between Omar and a campaign consultant followed by news of an impending divorce from her husband have only added to the tabloidesque narrative of scandal that has followed her since January. Fitton’s group, Judicial Watch, has filed two complaints with the House Ethics Committee asking for an investigation into Omar.
The group filed a new complaint over payments Omar made to a consultancy owned by Timothy Mynett, her alleged paramour. Omar’s campaign paid more than $200,000 to Mynett’s group, including more than $20,000 in travel expenses — money that some speculate was actually used to fund her affair. Omar has also faced scrutiny in the form of a Federal Election Commission complaint over the payments.
Largely through the work of independent, conservative journalists at sites like Powerline Blog, Omar has also been scrutinized over claims that she married her brother. According to Omar, she only legally married her soon-to-be ex-husband, Ahmed Hirsi, after divorcing a previous husband and the man some allege is her sibling, Ahmed Elmi.
Critics have pointed to social media posts and public records which cast doubt on Omar’s claim that she separated from Hirsi during her marriage to Elmi. Omar notably deleted a Father’s Day tweet that appeared to link her father with Elmi.
Shielded by media
Judicial Watch previously filed a complaint in July over allegations that Omar filed taxes jointly with Hirsi while she was married to Elmi. Omar has also been the subject of questions related to campaign finance violations committed when she was a state representative in Minnesota.
Omar filed for divorce from her husband mere weeks after denying to a reporter that she was separated from her husband.
Despite mounting public evidence of wrongdoing by Omar, Fitton said that the congresswoman has the “leftist” media behind her. And Republicans on Capitol Hill are just as wary about pressing forward with investigations, despite Omar’s incendiary statements on Israel and other remarks and actions viewed by many as blatantly anti-Semitic.
“Republicans are afraid of it. Because they’re afraid that they’re going to be targeted…..We don’t know if she did anything wrong, per se, but there’s evidence she did, and we can’t ignore it.”
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