Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has paid nearly $900,000 to her new husband’s consulting firm since he began working for her in 2018.
The freshman congresswoman from Minnesota gave Tim Mynett, whom she married in March, $292,814.99 from her campaign this year for digital advertising, fundraising consulting, and research services, according to the Federal Election Commission filings, the New York Post first reported on Tuesday. All together, Omar has paid Mynett’s firm $878,930.65 the entire time Mynett had worked for Omar’s campaign.
Omar’s payments to Mynett’s firm prompted an ethics complaint in August after Mynett’s then-wife alleged in a divorce filing that Mynett was having an affair with the congresswoman while working as a paid consultant. Omar was married to her second husband at the time.
Given that the FEC allows lawmakers to hire their spouses or family members to work on campaigns, the business relationship between Omar and Mynett is technically above board. Should an investigation take place, the two would have to prove that the campaign is paying him at a reasonable market-based price.
Omar spoke out on the topic back in March, blaming “rightwing Twitter trolls” for the controversy. “Everything we spend is used for a legitimate expense and paid at fair market value,” she said.
“It’s disappointing that reporters would rather amplify the baseless claims and misinformation of rightwing Twitter instead of talking to actual experts on the law. This is everything wrong with media coverage in 2020,” Omar added. “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.”
