Ilhan Omar's campaign 'paid nearly $2.8MILLION to her husband's political consultancy firm in just two years'
REPRESENTATIVE Ilhan Omar paid nearly $2.8million to her husband’s political consultancy firm in just two years, according to government data.
The Democratic rep from Minnesota’s re-election campaign sent $1.6million to E Street Group LLC, owned by Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.
The figures were reported by Fox News on Tuesday.
Omar’s husband’s firm was paid that money from 2019 through July 2020, before Omar’s campaign reported giving another $1.1million in the third quarter, and $27,000 in the weeks after.
The $1.1million in the third quarter was close to 70 percent of the $1.6million Omar’s campaign spent during that quarter.
The campaign expenses included TV advertising, digital work, as well as video production and editing, per Fox News.
In March, The Washington Post published a report on her campaign spending – in which conservative critics claimed “taxpayers funded her campaign.”
Omar responded that the “[government] doesn't fund my campaign. Grassroots donors do.”
“Everything we spend is used for a legitimate expense and paid at fair market value,” she added.
“We had roughly eight weeks to build a campaign and win a primary against more financially well-connected opponents.
“As a new candidate running in the Fifth, they were critical to getting a progressive like me with few resources elected,” Omar tweeted.
“eStreet isn’t just a consulting company to our campaign, they specialize in MN and are essential to the work we and other campaigns do every day.”
The rep added: “If the trolls looked at the our campaign finance reports, they would see a substantial portion is for digital buys, print and advertising which are costs that get passed on.”
Omar said her “relationship with Tim began long after this work started” and they “consulted with a top FEC campaign attorney to ensure there were no possible legal issues with our relationship.”
“We were told this is not uncommon and that no, there weren’t.”
Omar won her re-election in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district last week by nearly 65 percent.
President Donald Trump endorsed her GOP opponent, Lacy Johnson, in May.
Omar married Mynett in March.
The FEC allows lawmakers to hire and work with family members or spouses on their political campaigns, therefore Omar’s working with her husband’s firm is legal.
In July, an attorney who served as chief ethics lawyer who worked for former President George W Bush in the White House claimed “it should not be allowed.”
Richard Painter told the New York Post at the time: “I think it’s a horrible idea to allow it, given the amount of money that goes into these campaigns from special interests.”
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