Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that more than half of all donations made to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) in her 2020 re-election bid were paid to her husband’s business in the form of consulting fees.
Omar’s 2020 FEC report shows a total of 146 payments made to the E Street Group, her husband Tim Mynett’s firm. Those payments total $2.9 million. As reported by The Washington Free Beacon, that $2.9 million Mynett made from his wife’s re-election campaign accounted for about 80 percent of his firm’s revenue during the last election cycle.
But perhaps even more stunningly, the $2.9 million figure represents almost exactly half of the total contributions made to Omar during the 2020 cycle. FEC records show she raised a total of $5.9 million.
Omar reported paying her husband’s firm $11,118.25 on November 4 for “digital literature production” and travel reimbursement. She paid the E Street Group another $12,000 for “fundraising consulting” on November 2, $5,000 for “digital consulting” on the same day, and $49,999 for “digital advertising” on October 28.
Huge chunks of cash were paid to Mynett’s firm for similar expenditures dating back to February 2019.
Omar married Mynett in March 2020.
At the time, Omar addressed the conflict of interest on her Twitter account, saying she paid Mynett “fair market value” for his services.
“My relationship with Tim began long after this work started,” she said. “We 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.”
My relationship with Tim began long after this work started.
We 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.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 17, 2020
Though Omar and Mynett’s business relationship was not illegal, the pair recently decided – after the multi-million dollar haul – not to mix business with pleasure.
The Star-Tribune reported on November 17 that Omar had “severed ties” with her husband’s firm in order to “make sure that anybody who is supporting our campaign with their time or financial support feels there is no perceived issue with that support.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Minnesota Sun and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ilhan Omar” by Leopaltik1242. CC BY-SA 4.0.Background Photo “Ilhan Omar and Tim Mynett” by CAIR.
