Preya Samsundar — a former Alpha News journalist who was one of the first to report on the marriage scandal involving Rep. Ilhan Omar back in 2016 — joined Liz Collin on her podcast to explain more about the story that’s been a decade in the making.
Samsundar spoke about her investigation into Congresswoman Omar back then and the recent developments and controversies surrounding Omar now.
WATCH:
Samsundar shared her reaction when she first heard that federal authorities were conducting a raid at Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.
“I was going about my day … and all of a sudden I get a call and there’s an old coworker of mine from Alpha News and she proceeds to tell me, turn on your news … and there sprawled across CNN is federal authorities are raiding Ilhan Omar’s home. And I’m like … it’s potentially happening,” Samsundar said.
She also explained how her reporting from nearly a decade ago may have played a role leading up to the recent developments.
“I believe the reporting that we did 10 years ago was really the loose thread that once authorities started pulling on it, things started to unravel — and folks realized that this was probably much bigger than anyone would have imagined,” Samsundar said.
Back in August 2016, Samsundar worked with writer and attorney Scott Johnson and wrote several investigative articles about Omar. Writer David Steinberg also published more than a dozen articles on the issue and recently compiled a list of some of the key stories in the saga.
The first article from Samsundar talked about allegations that Omar married her brother that were there from the very start of her political career. Samsundar pointed out how it was the Somali community that was speaking up back then.
“I’m the daughter of immigrants, so I was like, there’s no way … that someone’s going to run for office knowing that they have this big skeleton in their closet,” Samsundar said.
She discussed how they “decided to go out and do our own fact-checking and as we’re pulling public reports, as we’re looking into public records, we’re seeing more questions that are popping up. Things that just do not make sense … it was at that point that folks started reaching out to myself.”
“Social media was very helpful in helping us bridge the gap and make some of these connections between who her siblings were and what the familial relationships were,” Samsundar said.
“So there were social media posts not only with Ilhan, you know, photographed with her siblings and Ahmed Nur Said Elmi during a trip to what appears to be London at the time, I believe in 2015, but we also have social media posts where Ilhan claims that in her divorce documents that she had no communication with him after 2011. But we have social media comments and likes and engagement on Instagram in particular, where Ilhan and Ahmed Nur Said Elmi years after their supposed lost contact,” she continued.
Two people, same answer, 10 years in between
When Samsundar tracked down Elmi and briefly corresponded with him via email, Elmi replied: “In no way I am affiliated with anyone in your articles, nor do I recall being married to anyone, at least from what I remember.”
Samsundar couldn’t believe what she heard when an MS NOW host recently asked the same questions of Ilhan Omar, who basically gave the same answer as Elmi.
“When I heard her interview response to Chris Hayes, my immediate thought went back to that conversation with Ahmed Nur Said Elmi 10 years ago … he basically uttered the same phrase, and I just had to laugh because it was so evident that they were kind of pulling from the same playbook,” Samsundar said.
More of Samsundar’s work can be seen in The Secrets of Ilhan Omar: Episodes I-III.
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
