Last week, Democrats in Minnesota elected Muslim US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who will be filling the seat of the disgraced outgoing Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, who was recently forced to resign as the DNC vice chair, after multiple credible accusations of domestic violence. The Somali-born Muslim lawmaker, Ilhan Omar, brings her own set of baggage with her to Washington DC, including multiple campaign finance violation charges as well as a controversy surrounding allegations that she committed immigration fraud when she married and then divorced her own brother.

On October 9, 2018, it was revealed in a report sent to Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) by the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (CFB), that there is “probable cause” against Omar and her state legislature campaign committee for at least three separate violations, which are now being investigated.

In August, Drazkowski filed numerous complaints against Omar for her alleged finance violations, including a complaint that accused her of using campaign funds to pay legal fees related to her divorce as well as the acceptance of speaker fees from local community colleges that lobby at the state capitol.The Minnesota Sun

US Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar recently came under fire for her alleged marriage and subsequent divorce with her own brother.

In 2016, two Minnesota journalistsScott Johnson of Powerline and Preya Samsundar of AlphaNewsMN — researched an anonymous tip about Minnesota State Representative Ilhan Omar (D). The tipster had presented evidence that Omar married her brother in 2009, and was still legally his wife as of 2016. The tipster had also asserted that Omar may have done it to help her brother commit immigration fraud. Further, the tipster had noted that Omar has been “culturally” married to, and living with, a second man since 2002 — the father of her three children.

Her brother was a British citizen. “As soon as Ilhan Omar married him,” the post continues, “he started university at her [a]lma mater North Dakota State University where he graduated in 2012. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Minneapolis where he was living in a public housing complex and was later evicted. He then returned to the United Kingdom where he now lives.”

Now, Alpha News MN is reporting that the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board (CFB) is launching a formal investigation into a complaint that state Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minneapolis) may have improperly used campaign resources for personal travel expenses.

State Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) recently filed a complaint with the CFB based on findings in the 2017 year-end report for Omar’s campaign committee. The report showed over $3,000 in travel-related disbursements, including airfare to Estonia and travel expenses to Massachusetts so Omar could speak at a rally for a Boston City Council candidate.

Here is a copy of the letter:

Last week, the CFB conducted a hearing to determine whether probable cause exists for Omar’s use of campaign resources for personal travel expenses. Now, according to Drazkowski, the CFB has determined probable cause exists and are moving forward with a formal investigation.

“I’m pleased the Campaign Finance Board is taking Representative Omar’s blatant misuse of taxpayer resources seriously,” Drazkowski said. “Omar doesn’t get to pick and choose the rules she wants to follow, yet it appears that’s exactly what she’s been doing for the past two years.”

According to Drazkowski, the CFB’s probable cause determination finds that Omar’s “out of state travel may not have been to events that would have helped a candidate in the performance of state legislative duties.”

Under state law, money collected for political purposes may not be converted to personal use. In addition, the CFB’s Candidate Handbook specifies what constitutes “reasonable costs of serving in office” that may be covered by campaign committee funds. “Trips for general fact-finding and relationship building” does not fall under that provision, according to the handbook.

This is the second complaint against Omar that the CFB is looking into. Earlier this year, Drazkowski filed a complaint against Omar’s committee for using campaign money to pay legal fees to her divorce attorney. The CFB launched a formal investigation into the complaint in August.

Drazkowski says the pattern of violations and complaints makes Omar a “serial violator of our laws.”

“Representative Omar is a serial violator of our laws,” Drazkowski said. “She not only has failed to offer any explanation for her ignorance of our laws but had the audacity to tell her constituents she has not been cited for any campaign finance violation. Well, the Campaign Finance Board now has two open investigations against her and its long past time for Omar to give the public some real answers as to why she’s tap-dancing around our laws and using campaign dollars for personal gain.”

Ilhan Omar is also coming under fire for changing her tune about Israel only days after being elected to the United States Congress.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar came out against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement during her campaign, but after winning the election, she now says she “supports the BDS movement.”

Omar, a Muslim Somali-American elected last week to replace outgoing Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) in the House, fought accusations that she held anti-Israel views during her campaign. As part of that effort, she told a group of Jewish voters in the state that she opposed the economic boycott of Israel, calling it “counteractive” and “not helpful in getting that two-state solution.”

But Omar’s tune has changed since winning the election. In an interview published Sunday by MuslimGirl, Omar said she “supports the BDS movement.”

“Ilhan believes in and supports the BDS movement, and has fought to make sure people’s right to support it isn’t criminalized,” her campaign told MuslimGirl, which said Omar had been criticized for coming out against BDS. Omar’s campaign also pointed MuslimGirl to her vote against an anti-BDS bill in Minnesota’s state legislature and her argument that boycott movements were successful in South Africa.

The comment is seen as a complete reversal by members of the Jewish community in her district.

“She’s either misrepresenting or misunderstanding, and I hope to be able to have a dialogue with her that clarifies which of those is the nature of her stance,” Rabbi Avi Olitzky, who hosted the event where Omar came out against BDS, told Forward, a Jewish news outlet.

Olitzky added that Omar was starting her “tenure off on the wrong foot.”

Omar defended her comments in text messages to a local Jewish reporter, saying the moderator “didn’t ask for a yes or no answer” at the initial event. Omar was asked during the debate to state “exactly where you stand” on BDS.

Only six years ago, the newly elected US Congresswoman, Democrat Ilhan Omar, tweeted about her hatred for Israel:

Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.


We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.