Investigation Busts Ilhan Omar, Findings Could Get the IRS Involved
Rep. Ilhan Omar has quite a few troubles, most of which have to do with things she’s said. Now, however, it’s something that she did — while in office in the Minnesota state legislature and even before that — and it could end up with the IRS involved.
In a Thursday ruling, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board said that the Democrat had violated campaign finance rules by using her campaign funds to pay for personal travel and tax advice, according to Fox News.
In addition, she must pay a $500 fine for using campaign funds for a personal trip to Florida in order to accept an honorarium.
Before her election to Congress in 2018, Omar served in the Minnesota state House of Representatives from 2017-19. She was first elected after a 2016 campaign.
“Rep. Omar must personally reimburse the Omar committee $3,469.23,” the ruling states.
“This reimbursement payment is the total amount of campaign funds that were used for purposes not permitted by statute in 2016 and 2017. Rep. Omar must provide documentation within 30 days from the date of this order showing the deposit of the reimbursement into the Omar committee’s account.”
However, that might not be the end of Omar’s troubles.
David Steinberg of PJ Media noted that while the report discussed the campaign violation committed by then-state Rep. Omar in having her taxes prepared with campaign funds, it was what the report stated about her taxes that could lead to bigger trouble:
Omar filed jointly with a man who is now her husband, Ahmed Hirsi, while she was legally married to another man.
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
There is no “unmarried filing jointly” status. @IlhanMN and Hirsi did not have a recognized common law marriage from another state. (Which would have been worse, anyway — it would have been bigamy.) (4/x) pic.twitter.com/6ePSqEIBNH
— David Steinberg ?? (@realDSteinberg) June 6, 2019
According to Fox, Omar married her first husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in a civil ceremony in 2009. The couple separated in 2011, but did not formally petition for divorce until 2017, Fox News reported.
“Prior to her marriage with Elmi, Omar had reportedly wed Hirsi in the Muslim ‘faith tradition,’ but the couple separated shortly afterwards. Omar did not officially marry Hirsi until 2018, after reconciling with him and splitting with Elmi,” Fox noted.
In other words, this could get the IRS involved, given that there are potentially fraudulent tax returns involved.
The report released Thursday only dealt with whether or not Omar broke Minnesota campaign finance rules, which she clearly did.
The report details how her campaign funds paid for plane tickets out of states for her appearance at political rallies or picking up an award, while Minnesota law clearly states that all campaign trips have to be related to serving in office.
However, the elephant in the room will be her tax returns.
If Omar filed jointly with a man who wasn’t her husband at the same time she was married to someone else, that’s going to be a problem.
And this time, the trouble doesn’t just involve something she said. There’s not a whole lot of interpretation at play here.
Whether this gets investigated is anyone’s guess, but given her high profile, it’s safe to assume Rep. Omar is attracting IRS attention, too.
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