Tag: #IlhanOmar

Ilhan Omar Refuses To Answer Questions About Fraud Allegations After Pressed By Reporter

Recently it has become really hard to keep up with all the allegations swirling around Rep. Ilhan Omar. So far she admitted to some minor campaign finance violations but the bigger charges have gone unanswered.

To be fair to Rep. Omar, she probably feels that if she answers the question it will only encourage more of the same.

That didn’t seem like a bad strategy until her hometown paper published a bombshell investigative report where they couldn’t answer the simple question, did she marry her brother or not.

At some point, Rep. Omar will have to answer this question because it is out there now and there is no putting the genie back in the bottle.

The Daily Wire reported that Rep. Ilhan Omar repeatedly refused to answer questions from a reporter who asked her about a series of fraud allegations that have resurfaced this month.

Omar was presented the questions after the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, the Daily Caller News Foundation, and the Washington Examiner all ran stories over the last week highlighting allegations stemming for her marital history.

“Ilhan, if I could get a moment time, if I could get a moment of your time, could you tell me why you filed illegal tax returns in 2014 and 2015?” The Rebel’s Keean Bexte asked Omar. “Can you tell me definitively or not, is Ahmed Elmi your brother? Is he your brother?”

Omar kept looking down, did not answer, and at one point put her hand in Bexte’s face.

“Can you tell me definitively, yes or no, is he your brother and why can’t you answer that question?” Bexte continued to push.

“Why did you refer to him as your child’s uncle on Instagram and why did you lie on court documents saying that you hadn’t seen him since 2011 when in fact you’d been talking to him all the time on Instagram?”

“New investigative documents released by a state agency have given fresh life to lingering questions about the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar and whether she once married a man — possibly her own brother — to skirt immigration laws,” the Star Tribune reported on Saturday.

“The questions surfaced again this month in a state probe of campaign finance violations showing that Omar filed federal taxes in 2014 and 2015 with her current husband, Ahmed Hirsi, while she was still legally married to but separated from Elmi.”

Rep. Omar Guilty of Using Campaign Funds For Personal Expenses – Now Must Pay Thousands In Fines

Rep. Ilhan Omar must pay a $500 civil fine to the state of Minnesota for violating a campaign finance law, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board ordered on Thursday.

Additionally, she must reimburse her political campaign $3,469 for improperly used campaign funds, the board said in the decision.

Rep. Omar’s campaign improperly paid hotel or travel expenses for Omar to attend out-of-state events five times in 2017, the board has found. The board also found Rep. Omar’s campaign paid for Omar’s immigration records and two years of tax returns without justifying their benefit to her campaign.

The order reads: “Rep. Omar must personally reimburse the Omar committee $3,469.23. 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.”

“A civil penalty of $500 is assessed against Rep. Ilhan Omar personally for the $207 payment in violation of Minnesota Statutes section 211B.12. Rep. Omar must personally pay the $500 by check or money order made payable to the State of Minnesota. Payment must be within 30 days of the date of this order.”

The Daily Caller also reported that Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar improperly spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds on non-campaign expenses back in 2016 and 2017 while serving in the state legislature, Minnesota’s campaign finance and public disclosure board ruled on Thursday.

Republican Minnesota state Rep. Steve Drazkowski filed the initial complaint in July 2018, alleging Rep. Omar’s campaign had paid attorneys $2,250 for services related to Rep. Omar’s 2017 marriage dissolution.

He later amended his complaint to include the payments Rep. Omar’s campaign made for her personal travel.

While the state board did find that Rep. Omar’s campaign made improper expenditures, it didn’t find the $2,250 went toward Rep. Omar’s marriage dissolution.

“The 2016 payment of $2,250 from the Omar committee to the Kjellberg Law Office was not a payment for Rep. Omar’s subsequent marital dissolution,” the board stated in its findings.

“The $2,250 payment was a reimbursement for two payments made by the Kjellberg Law Office. One payment of $750 was made to De Leon & Nestor, LLC for obtaining immigration records and one payment of $1,500 was made to Frederick & Rosen, Ltd. for services related to Mr. Hirsi’s and Rep. Omar’s filed joint tax returns of 2014 and 2015.”

“I’m glad this process is complete and that the Campaign Finance Board has come to a resolution on this matter. We have been collaborative in this process and are glad the report showed that none of the money was used for personal use, as was initially alleged,” Rep. Omar said in a statement that was released by her campaign.

“In addition to complying with the Board’s findings, I plan on closing the account from my State House race and distributing the funds to organizations that help train first-time candidates to run for office—so that the next generation of candidates and their teams know how to adequately track and report campaign expenses. I also believe we need to dedicate more resources to our campaign finance agencies—and I look forward to supporting these efforts,” Omar concluded.

You can read the full order in this Link.

VIDEO: Ilhan Omar Goes After Conservatives & People Of Faith On House Floor Of Representatives

On Wednesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar slammed conservatives on the floor of the House of Representatives over their advocacy for pro-life stances on abortion.

“I rise today to defy the horrifying attacks happening against women’s reproductive rights all across this country,” Rep. Ilhan Omar began. “Religious fundamentalists are currently trying to manipulate state laws in order to impose their beliefs on an entire society, all with complete disregard for voices and the rights of American women.”

“The recent efforts like those in Alabama, in Georgia, are only the latest in a long history of efforts to criminalize women for simply existing, to punish us when we don’t conform to their attempts to control us,” Omar continued.

She continued by highlighting other measures across America, clamming that if they were happening anywhere else in the world that they would be considered “a dangerous violation of human rights.”

“But because it’s happening here with the support of the ultra-conservative religious right, we call it religious freedom,” Rep. Ilhan Omar continued.

“Let’s just be honest, for the religious Right this isn’t simply about their care or concern for life. If they cared about or were concerned about children, they would be concerned about the children that are being detained and those that are dying in camps across our borders, or the children who are languishing in hunger and facing homelessness.”

“This isn’t about religious morality or conviction because we’ve seen time and time again those that talk about their faith and want to push policies because of their faith are the ones that simply are caught with the hypocrisy of not living it out in their personal lives,” she stated while noting two examples of Republican lawmakers who made decisions in their personal lives that were contrary to their political views.

“I am frustrated every single time I hear people speaking about their faith and pushing that on to other people because we know those so-called religious politicians, when it comes to their life, their choices, they want to talk about freedom,” Rep. Omar continued.

“But when it comes to other people’s lives and other people’s choices, they want to talk about religion. This should outrage every single person. It certainly outrages me and we can no longer stand for it.” She added.

Ben Carson Rips Ilhan Omar After She Attacked Him About ‘Oreo’ Testimony

On Wednesday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson invoked abortion as he fired back at Rep. Ilhan Omar one day after the congresswoman criticized him for his appearance at a House hearing.

“I hope @IlhanMN knows I care about all people, even those she doesn’t recognize as having a right to life,” Ben Carson tweeted on Wednesday, referencing Rep. Omar’s stance supporting women’s right to an abortion.

The HUD Secretary seemed to trip up multiple times during the Tuesday House Financial Services Committee hearing, he appeared to confuse a real estate term with Oreo cookies, and he tried to reclaim time during Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s five minutes of questioning, even though the rules don’t allow it, as The Hill reported.

“Not sure he was fully awake” during the Tuesday hearing, Rep. Omar tweeted “Maybe he meant to reclaim his time back to sleep.”

Ben Carson, a former brain surgeon, mentioned his time in medicine in his response to Rep. Omar.

“Since you brought it up… I know what it’s like to actually be sleepy, especially after 18-hour surgeries and operating on babies in the womb,” Carson posted on Twitter.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson fired back on FOX Business.

“You can see that some of the networks are only interested in those kinds of sound bites that they can use to ridicule,” he told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney Opens a New Window. on Wednesday. “The fact of the matter is I was having difficulty hearing her.”

The exchange began after California Democrat Rep. Katie Porter asked Ben Carson to explain the gap in REO rates.

“Do you know what an REO is?” she asked.

“OREO?” Carson replied, referring to the cookie by that name.

“No, not an Oreo—an REO,” countered Porter, who then explained that she was asking about real-estate owned properties.

The HUD Secretary stated that he is very familiar with foreclosed properties and REOs and has not only read “extensively” about them but even knew about them as teenager of where he grew up in Detroit. He believes that Porter is not up to date on the current REO portfolio.

“When a family gets into a problem with their mortgage and it’s backed by our agency we go through a lot of procedures with the banks to make sure that they don’t get foreclosed upon and the few cases where they do obviously we are able to sell those properties very quickly,” Ben Carson explained. “And the REO portfolio just over the last 10 years has dramatically decreased by ten-fold you know 65 thousand down to 65 hundred.”

“So I suspect when Katie Porter was an expert in this area things were very different that’s why I invited her to speak with our staff that deals with these so they can bring her up to date — maybe she would then be able to understand what’s going on,” Carson added.

VP Pence Demands Democrats To Remove Rep. Omar From Foreign Affairs Committee

Vice President Mike Pence just made a move and demanded Rep. Ilhan Omar to be removed from House Foreign Affairs Committee.

On Friday, the Vice President renewed his demand for Democrats to remove freshman lawmaker Rep. Ilhan Omar, of her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Ilhan Omar has made statements … anti-semetic comments … Statements against our most cherished ally: Israel … that ought to be rejected by every American,” VP Pence said during an interview with “Fox and Friends.” “And frankly the fact that very recently she has been trying to blame the United States of America for the deprivation and poverty brought on by the dictatorship in Venezuela.”

Rep. Omar first drew the ire of Republicans on Capitol Hill and political allies of Trump’s administration when she tweeted her disrespect for a pro-Israel influence in Congress.

Recently, Rep. Omar blamed U.S. policy toward Venezuela for the ongoing humanitarian crisis, telling left-leaning news organization “Democracy Now,” “A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela. And we’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today.”

Rep. Omar got her seat in Congress as part of the so-called blue wave last November that placed a historic amount of women and women of color in the House of Representatives, giving Democrats the majority back in that chamber.

Along with freshmen allies like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Omar’s progressive stances on the economy, social issues, and foreign policy have given Trump even more supporters for the 2020 election cycle.

President Trump himself has shown no restraint in slamming Rep. Omar and her fiery rhetoric, saying on few occasions she “has a way about her” that is “very unpatriotic.”

This week, while speaking at an event in Minnesota, Mike Pence alluded to Rep. Omar’s remarks costing her the seat she holds in Congress.

“The people of Minnesota will decide whether or not she remains in Congress,” VP Mike Pence said. “Congresswoman Omar has no place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Democratic leadership out to remove her.”

Trump’s Campaign Blasts Ilhan Omar Using Her Own Words Against Her After She Criticized The President’s Rally Response

President Trump’s official campaign used Rep. Ilhan Omar’s own words against her after she criticized President Trump for his response to a supporter who suggested shooting illegal immigrants as a way to stop them.

“This was hard to watch and listen to but unsurprising that Trump would laugh about shooting people who come to our country seeking a better life,” The Democratic Minnesota Rep. Omar tweeted on Thursday. Her remarks were in reference to an exchange that President Trump had one day prior while he was holding a rally in Florida.

During the rally, the President rhetorically asked the attending crowd how to stop the slew of immigrants illegally entering the United States. After an attendee shouted out “shoot them,” President Trump commented that “only in the panhandle can you get away with that statement.”

President Trump’s 2020 campaign fired back at Rep. Omar’s criticism with a clip of the Minnesota congresswoman from back in 2013 where she shrug off the idea that the Islamic-terror organizations al-Qaeda and Hezbollah are dangerous and mocked Americans who believe it.

Omar, and fellow Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib became America’s first Muslim congresswomen when sworn into office back in January. Their time in office has been entangled in allegations of anti-Semitism and anti-American sentiments.

Rep. Omar has defended anti-Israeli statements, such as ones invoking Allah to expose Israel’s “evil doings” and also faced criticism from both sides of the aisle for promoting anti-Semitic canards such as that Jews’ support of Israel is paid for and that they have a dual loyalty to America and Israel.

The congresswoman had a fundraiser with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a notable pro-Palestinian organization with alleged ties to Islamic terror groups. The U.S. Department of Justice listed CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in funding millions of dollars to Hamas. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates named CAIR a terrorist organization along with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State since back in 2014.

While speaking to the audience at a CAIR event, Rep. Omar described the 9/11 terrorist attacks as merely an event where “some people did something.”

Crenshaw Shuts Down Omar’s ‘Cheap Shot’ After She Blamed The US For Venezuela Crisis

Rep. Dan Crenshaw is teaching Rep. Ilhan Omar a lesson on what’s really happening in the socialist country of Venezuela after she casted part of the blame on the United States.

“A lot of the policies that we’ve put in place has kind of helped lead the devastation in Venezuela,” Rep. Omar said during an interview with “Democracy Now” this week. “And we’ve sort of set the stage for where we’re arriving today.”

The freshman congresswoman’s controversial remark sparked outrage among conservatives, including Vice President Mike Pence who claimed that she is someone who “chooses socialism over freedom.”

Vice President Pence doubled down during a Fox News interview on Friday, saying that “the congresswoman doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Rep. Omar responded to the criticism, calling it an attack on “women of color” to “make us feel small.”

Crenshaw spoke with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Friday and told her that Omar’s “opinion is one that is not based on facts or reality.”

The former Navy SEAL, whose family moved around the world for his father’s job in the oil and gas industry, including Ecuador, Colombia, even Caracas, Venezuela, said he’s watched the socialist policies “ruin the country,” adding that “it’s not U.S. policy.”

“Notice she didn’t give an example because she doesn’t have any,” Crenshaw said.

The Republican congressman gave Omar a lesson on what’s happening in Venezuela:

“What’s actually happened is through price controls and nationalization of private industry, you’ve ruined an economy. […] When you put in these kinds of socialist policies, it destroys a country. It happens over and over again. People starve. That is what’s happening right now. These failed ideas that keep bubbling up.”

“It’s a real shame to see that we have members of Congress actually defending them,” he said.

Dan Crenshaw slammed the “cheap shot” used when people cast the blame on the U.S. and then claim “if you disagree with me, you’re disagreeing with me because of my identity.”

As for military intervention in Venezuela, he said: “We don’t want to remove that [option] from the table.”

While dictator Maduro holds onto his power in Venezuela, President Trump has made it clear that he recognizes interim president Juan Guaidó as the leader.

When also asked about military intervention, President Trump told Fox News that “there’s always a tipping point, but certainly I’d rather not do that.”

Marco Rubio Completely Obliterates Rep. Omar’s ‘Embarrassing’ Venezuela Claim: ‘She’s Just Making It Up’

Sen. Marco Rubio thoroughly dismissed the “ridiculous” claim from Rep. Ilhan Omar that the United States is to blame for the crisis in Venezuela that it may be studied years from now on how to effectively shut down the misinformed left.

Rep. Omar, one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress in 2018, is a hard left politician who harbors a lot of hate around herself, not only for the state of Israel but apparently for her adopted country — she is a refugee from Somalia.

“A lot of the policies that we have put in place has kinda helped lead the devastation in Venezuela,” Omar said on Wednesday during an interview, the remark supportive of the socialist dictatorship in place in the country.

She went so far as to accuse the United States on “bullying” the Nicolas Maduro regime.

On Thursday, Rubio appeared on Fox Business Network and host Trish Regan asked him about the freshman Democrats’ remarks.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Rubio said, before Regan could even get the question out.

“Yeah, I think she was just recently elected, she has no idea what she’s talking about, she’s just making it up,” Rubio would add. “She doesn’t even follow this issue, most of the people in Washington aren’t following this issue.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” he continued, “I mean, the sanctions that are on Maduro have been in place for two months, before that all the sanctions were on individuals. She won’t find a single Venezuelan other than those in the regime that would even agree with, it’s ridiculous.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvp7AHFSVS4

“They’ve stolen the money,” the Republican lawmaker added. “They’ve degraded the country by literally stealing, they haven’t upgraded their, for example, their electric grid in 25 years. Any money that was ever made from the oil was stolen and put into people’s pockets.”

“So honestly, I don’t even feel like addressing the comment because it’s not an informed one, it’s not an intelligent one,” Rubio said.

“It’s silly, it’s ridiculous, and it’s actually embarrassing!” he concluded.

A beat down that thorough is sure to elicit cries of Islamophobia and sexism from Rep. Omar and her progressive bunch, who are so quick to play the victim — they would be hard pressed to play the race card, given Rubio’s Cuban lineage.

Ilhan Omar Is In Hot Water Again After Resurfaced Tweet Shows She Trashed US Troops in ‘Black Hawk Down’

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is at the spot light of yet another controversy after an investigative report found a tweet from back in 2017 where she appeared to criticize the role of American troops during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993.

Early during Bill Clinton’s presidency, American forces became involved in a brief conflict after Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid attacked U.N. peacekeepers.

The tragic battle lasted for about 18 hours and resulted in the deaths of 18 American soldiers and hundreds of Somali people. During the battle, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, setting the basis for the film “Black Hawk Down.”

Following a back and forth between two Twitter users about the horrific 2017 bombings in Mogadishu that killed hundreds of people, Rep. Omar joined in with another Twitter user and appeared to compare the casualties from the terrorist attack to the actions of “American forces” at the Battle of Mogadishu.

The tweet was dug up by the Investigative Project on Terrorism and became was widely criticized on social media. People were outraged that Rep. Omar appeared to compare the actions taken by American soldiers to that of a horrific terrorist attack.

https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1120336252287488001
https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1120339412129406983

Others were questioning her placement on the Foreign Affairs Committee, given her policy outlook on the mission run by Clinton during the Battle of Mogadishu.

Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant was shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu. He told IPT that Rep. Omar was wrong to place the blame for casualties on Americans instead of the warlord.

“Losses taken on the Somali side came as a result of their attempts to ambush our ground convoy and flight of aircraft. Our forces, being vastly outnumbered, fought to save their own lives. All the Somali militia had to do was walk away, but they persisted.” he said.

Durant also claimed that he “takes issue” with Rep. Omar’s comments because he believes the mission helped to end the suffering of some Somali people, risking American lives in the process.

“As a nation, we and our political leadership should be proud of what we did there,” Durant told IPT.

“We put our most precious resource on the line to help starving people. In return, my friends’ remains and those of my comrades were dragged through the streets.” he concluded.

9/11 Firefighter Whose Son Died On Fateful Day Goes After Ilhan Omar

Retired FDNY firefighter Jim Riches, whose son Jimmy died in 9/11 terrorist attack, slammed Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar Tuesday night for explaining the attack as “some people did something.” He demanded an apology from the Democratic congresswoman while panning New York Democrats for not condemning her.

“My son Jimmy was murdered by Islamic terrorists. Three thousand people were murdered that day. And Rep. Ilhan Omar said some people did something. That’s ridiculous. It’s outrageous. It’s a disgrace. She’s in the Congress of the United States,” Riches said at the New York State Republican Party dinner at the Grand Hyatt. “My son and those 3000 people died a terrible death.”

A video of Rep. Omar at a function hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations from roughly a month ago surfaced last week.

“For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it,” she said at the event.

“CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” she said.

So you can’t just say that today someone is looking at me strange and that I am trying to make myself look pleasant. You have to say that this person is looking at me strange, I am not comfortable with it, and I am going to talk to them and ask them why. Because that is the right you have.” she continued.

However, CAIR was founded in 1994. President Trump responded on Twitter by posting a tweet not only the video of Omar’s 9/11 remarks but also the attacks of 9/11. Democrats claimed Trump put Omar in danger because of the tweet.

Jim Riches, however, supported President Trump’s tweet of the 9/11 video.

“To see Donald Trump get a video in with the planes crash into the building. He said, ‘Never forget 9/11.’ So many people were outraged on the Democratic side … He told like it was. That’s what happened that day,” Riches said.

Riches also went after New York Democratic lawmakers who defended the Minnesota Democratic Rep. or remained silent when her remarks became widely public.

“Donald Trump is 100 percent right. They can’t deal with reality. [Sen. Chuck] Schumer, Nadler — all the New York politicians were quiet. They didn’t say one thing to [Rep. Rashida] Tlaib and them. They called us racists. I’m not a racist. My son got murdered,” he said. “I did nothing wrong. I’m not a racist. Don’t call me a racist, because I criticized you, but she owes us an apology, and we’re gonna get it.”

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