Representative Ilhan Omar captured the nation’s attention in 2016 when she was elected as the first Somali-American legislator. Since 2016, the media has remained attentive to the now US Representative, calling her a “cosmopolitan figure”.
More recently, she has faced significant backlash for her libelous tweet about the Covington Catholic high school boys and her anti-semitic tweets. But the backlash doesn’t stop there. Now, it appears as if Rep. Omar endorsed now Somalian President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (known as “Farmaajo”) and shortly after, her brother-in-law was appointed to permanent secretary to Prime Minister Khayre, whom Farmaajo appointed.
Before taking office in 2016, Rep. Omar visited Somalia to appear with then president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. During her time in Somalia, according to her soon to be husband, Ahmed Hirsi, Rep. Omar met Farmaajo who would soon become Somali president. The election was described as the “the most fraudulent political events in Somalia’s history”.
Shortly after Farmaajo’s election, he nominated Hassan Ali Khayre, an oil firm executive, to be his prime minister. Rep. Omar and her husband spoke at a party in Minneapolis celebrating Farmaajo’s election. Rep Omar’s husband specifically mentioned Khayre and Rep. Omar praised Farmaajo.
Just two days after Rep. Omar and Hirsi spoke in Minneapolis, Rep. Omar’s brother in law and U.S citizen, Mohamed Keynan, became Khayre’s permanent secretary. Kenyan and Rep. Omar have a close family relationship and Kenyan frequent expresses his support for his sister-in-law.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently granted Rep. Omar a seat on the foreign affairs committee. But, we are now seeing that this could pose a problem. Members of Congress are exempt from the taxing security clearance process but her seat on this committee could expose her to heavy amounts of classified national security information.
Security Executive Agent Directive 4 of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence states that “Conditions that could raise a security concern and may be disqualifying include: (a) contact, regardless of method, with a foreign family member… or other person who is a citizen of or resident in a foreign country if that contact creates a heightened risk of foreign exploitation, inducement, manipulation, pressure, or coercion.”. According to Transparency International, Somalia has been ranked last among all nations on earth for the last 11 years for the “Corruption Perceptions index”.
Rep. Omar’s family ties to the nation of Somalia along with her current position on the Foreign affairs Committee in the U.S House of Representatives is proving itself to be cause for concern.
***
Do you like Alpha News? Help us reach more readers in 2019 by donating today
Megan Olson
Megan Olson is a 2020 graduate of the University of Minnesota with degrees in political science and history. She works in public affairs in addition to serving on the Legislative Advisory Council for School District 196. She is also on the school board for FIT academy, a charter school in Apple Valley.
