MINNEAPOLIS (TND) — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is facing renewed scrutiny over campaign spending days before Tuesday’s Minnesota primary election.
Rep. Omar, a prominent member of the far-left congressional group known as the “Squad,” has been embroiled in campaign finance scandals since her first run for federal office in 2018.
The National Legal and Policy Center previously filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) against the Minnesota congresswoman’s campaign. The complaint alleged that campaign funds were unlawfully used to fund her now-husband’s consulting firm.
The complaint alleged that Rep. Omar “knowingly and willfully violated” campaign finance laws by “converting campaign funds to personal use” or “improperly reporting payee information.” The FEC ultimately dismissed the complaint in December 2021, but told Rep. Omar’s campaign to submit revisions to her reports.
The National Desk (TND) reviewed the filed revisions and discovered that Rep. Omar’s now-husband Timothy Mynett’s consulting firm, E Street Group, received nearly $3 million in direct payments from his wife’s campaign.
Campaign expenditures to the E Street Group significantly increased during the first quarter of 2019, coinciding with Rep. Omar's alleged affair with Mynett, according to FEC records.
The congresswoman repeatedly denied affair claims to reporters at the time. However, she eventually posted a picture of her and her new husband on social media. FEC records show that Rep. Omar’s campaign increased spending on “consulting fees” to Mynett’s firm by nearly seven times its previous earnings during their alleged affair.
Husband’s history in political consulting
Mynett has frequently aided in consulting for progressive campaigns and political causes.
FEC records show that the Washington, D.C.-based consultant, E Street Group, and the Mynett Group, LLC, received $4.5 million comprehensively from federal campaigns. This total does not tabulate money earned from local and state-level campaigns.
Revised FEC data showed Rep. Omar's campaign made up 65.9% of the total amount his firms earned while in the federal campaign consulting business.
This is not the first time questions have been raised about Omar and her husband’s shady campaign finance dealings,” national GOP consultant Jimmy Keady said. “There is a line that consultants should never cross with their clients, and Omar and her husband crossed that line.”TND contacted Rep. Omar’s campaign on Friday regarding her husband earning millions from her bids for office. Questions were asked about why expenditures to her husband’s firm were initially omitted from election reports and whether there was ever an attempt to conceal expenditures.
The lawyer for the campaign responded with an attack on the questions submitted by TND.
“Ilhan for Congress has always been in compliance with all legal and FEC requirements,” campaign lawyer David Matrani said. “Attempts to suggest otherwise are clearly politically motivated from right wing organizations.”
Rep. Omar's Democratic primary challenger, Don Samuels, responded to his opponent's deflection.
“We believe there’s been a pattern of self-dealing and a corresponding lack of transparency by Rep. Omar,” Samuels said. “According to FEC records, every expenditure related to her husband’s company between January 1, 2019, and September 30, 2019, was later added or amended by Rep. Omar.”
Samuels is a progressive Democrat who served on the Minneapolis City Council for 11 years before running for Congress.
Voters should be concerned, and Rep. Omar should be answering questions posed by journalists, something that she has refused to do as these issues have arisen," Samuels said.From political consulting to venture capitalist
When asked by TND for more information on why Rep. Omar's multi-million dollar election machine suddenly stopped spending a significant portion of her election funds with her husband's firm, a campaign spokesperson provided a link to an Associated Press report published in November 2020.
“Here’s our statement,” Rep. Omar’s campaign said.
The AP report stated that Rep. Omar sent an email to her campaign donors when concerns were initially raised about her donor spending with Mynett’s company.
“Every dollar that was spent went to a team of more than twenty that were helping us fight back against attacks and organize on the ground and online in a COVID-19 world,” Rep. Omar wrote. “And Tim – beyond his salary at the firm – received no profit whatsoever from the consulting relationship the firm provided.”
TND contacted Tim Mynett for comment on Friday and Saturday. Comment requests were not immediately returned.
Campaign finance questions are not the only allegations Mynett is facing as his wife heads into the final days of her Democratic primary bid.
Samuels told TND during an interview on Saturday that he is worried about a Minnesota Reformer news reportalleging Rep. Omar’s husband defrauded investors in a California winery and South Dakota cannabis growers of millions.
A company that Mynett co-founded said it was delayed in repaying investors because its funds were frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to the Minnesota Reformer.
This federal agency typically oversees financial transactions and seizures associated with international embargoes, terrorist organizations and financial dealings with recognized enemies of the United States.
Meanwhile, political consultant Jimmy Keady said that ongoing questions into campaign finance spending should be a crucial factor for Minnesota voters.
“The investigation into her campaign’s finances is showing us what we already knew: Ilhan Omar has swindled voters out of millions of dollars in donations for her own personal gain,” Keady said.
“Her behavior continues to be beneath the office that she holds, and on Tuesday, voters will make a referendum on her actions,” Keady added.
Note: Keady’s political consulting firm is not affiliated with any candidate campaigning against Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Follow Gary Collins on X. Do you have news tips on this story or others? Send news tips to gmcollins@sbgtv.com.
ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmp5mknryvedaoqaWcX6G8t7GMpqannalirq%2BwjJ6jnpuknryvv4yio6GZnmK8rq3RZp2am5mjtG6%2BxKecsJ2UYsCkvtStoKexXZa1pq3DZqafZaSqsrSwwLJkqaqZoq6zxYymoKemlai8ta2MnZymp5OnrrV506KkZqWpo7K1wIyeZKysopqytXnGq6auqF2bsqR5wpqkqZmZnLtussinmKeblWK%2Fpq%2FOq5usZZOku7TBy62gp58%3D