Opinion| Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota reportedly continually “violated state rules when she used campaign funds to pay for personal out-of-state travel as well as help on her tax returns and must reimburse her former campaign committee nearly $3,500, Minnesota campaign finance officials ruled Thursday,” according to Fox News.
Fox reports, “The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board said the first-term congresswoman also must pay the state a $500 civil penalty for using campaign money to travel to Florida, where she accepted an honorarium.”
On top of that, conservative commentators didn’t waste time in reminding that the Board’s report had shown that Ilhan Omar and her husband, Ahmed Hirsi, “filed joint tax returns in 2014 and 2015, when Omar was reportedly married to another man. Omar engaged in a civil marriage with Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, and the couple separated in 2011 without formally petitioning for divorce until 2017,” according to Fox.
“A sitting congresswoman may have filed EIGHT YEARS of fraudulent, felonious, tax returns,” writer David Steinberg, who wrote a Twitter thread regarding the issue, stated.
As I have written, @IlhanMN likely committed a remarkable number of additional felonies due to her fraudulent 2009-2017 marriage.
Today’s report appears to confirm the worst of them: @IlhanMN may have filed EIGHT YEARS of fraudulent federal and state tax returns. (2/x)
— David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) June 6, 2019
Before she married Elmi, Omar had been married Hirsi in the Muslim “faith tradition.” Fox reports that “the couple separated shortly afterwards. Omar did not officially marry Hirsi until 2018, after reconciling with him and splitting with Elmi.”
The report states that @IlhanMN and Ahmed Hirsi filed joint tax returns in 2014 and 2015.
Yet they were not married. @IlhanMN was married to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi from 2009-2017.
According to both federal and MN law, this is illegal. (3/x)
— David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) June 6, 2019
According to Fox, “Tax experts say the IRS only permits joint filings if a couple is in a state that legally recognizes the couple as married.”
“Time to get federal IRS officials involved?” questioned conservative blogger Michelle Malkin. “What say you all?”
Here’s the report page stating @IlhanMN and Hirsi filed jointly (5/x): pic.twitter.com/Qy2EGiRYJ9
— David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) June 6, 2019
The report says, “The crisis committee had Frederick & Rosen prepare releases for Rep. Omar and Mr. Hirsi to sign in order for Frederick & Rosen to obtain Rep. Omar’s and Mr. Hirsi’s filed joint tax returns for 2014 and 2015. Frederick & Rosen then reviewed the documents obtained from the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of the Omar committee. However, there is no substantive evidence in the record to show that the services benefitted the Omar committee, and the Omar committee has failed to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the services from Frederick & Rosen were a permitted noncampaign disbursement under Minnesota Statutes section 211B.12. Rep. Omar must reimburse the committee the $1,500 that was paid to the Kjellberg Law Firm for the services from Frederick & Rosen, Ltd.”
Update:
Remarkable incompetence from MN CBS affiliate @WCCO: Her "now-husband" — meaning "not at the time."
A once-in-a-career local story with **global** implications — and they **don't even mention** their own coverage confirms @ilhanMN is a felon.https://t.co/f3pp447VM2 pic.twitter.com/M073smKsp5
— David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) June 7, 2019
Fox explains of the report:
That reference to Omar and Hirsi’s joint filing, however, was not investigated or addressed further in the report.
The board found that Omar’s campaign bought her a plane ticket to Boston, where she spoke at a political rally; paid for a hotel in Washington, D.C., where Omar participated in an interview for the United Nations Foundation’s Girl UP conference; and covered her travel to Chicago to accept an award and attend a fundraising luncheon.
Under Minnesota law, campaign trips must be related to serving in office. Omar was a state representative from Minneapolis at the time of the violations. She was elected to the U.S. House last November.
Republican state Rep. Steve Drazkowski initially raised the complaints against Omar, suggesting that she used $2,250 in campaign funds to pay a lawyer for her divorce proceedings. Omar has said those payments to her attorney were campaign-related fees.
The board found the payment was actually reimbursement to two other law firms for work related to immigration and tax documents. The board also determined that $1,500 spent to correct an issue on Omar’s tax return was not a campaign-related expense and must be returned.
According to the board, evidence indicates that the $2,250 was not payment for Omar’s marital dissolution. The board directed Omar to file an amended report with more information about the law firm payments.
Omar had called the claims politically motivated. In a statement, her congressional campaign said she is “glad this process is complete” and that she intends to comply with the board’s findings.
The Minnesota representative also stated, “We have been collaborative in this process and are glad the report showed that none of the money was used for personal use, as was initially alleged.”
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