In an interview with the Associated Press, state. Rep. Ilhan Omar refused to answer questions about her marriage history, saying she chooses “not to further the narrative of those who oppose us.”
Omar, who is running for Rep. Keith Ellison’s seat in Congress, is on the verge of becoming a national representative for Minnesota’s largest city and its surrounding suburbs. Despite this, questions remain surrounding Omar’s personal history–ones that Omar refuses to address.
When asked by Associated Press reporter Amy Forliti about the claims that she married her brother and committed immigration fraud, Omar shot it down as “disgusting lies.”
Alpha News’ extensive research has revealed Omar may have married her brother Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in order to aid Elmi in obtaining citizenship. Elmi’s name follows the Somali custom of being named after his father, which is the same name as her father. While being legally married to Elmi, Omar has publicly identified Ahmed Hirsi as her cultural husband and father of her children.
When these revelations came to light, Omar dismissed the claims, maintaining the marriage was simply a difficult time in her private life. However, Omar filed for divorce from Elmi in May of 2017, and the statements made in the divorce documents has added to the controversy.
In her divorce documents, Omar tells the court that Elmi left the country in 2011 to go back to London. This corresponds with her statements that she and Elmi terminated their relationship so she could resume her relationship with Hirsi. She also claims in court documents that she hasn’t spoken or seen her estranged husband since June 2011.
However, Alpha News obtained documentation via social media that shows these statements to be false. A trail of contact on social media shows Omar and Elmi stayed in contact through 2014, leading to the potential that Omar committed perjury by lying in the divorce documents about her last known contact with Elmi.
Omar denied the claims in a statement to the Associated Press, but refused to answer any specific questions. Omar alleged it is all an attempt to stop a “progressive, Black, Muslim, hijab-wearing, immigrant woman.”
“We choose not to further the narrative of those who oppose us,” Omar told the Associated Press.
Omar also pushed back on the list of potential campaign finance violations brought to light by Republican state Rep. Steve Drazkowski.
Drazkowski recently discovered Omar improperly used campaign resources for personal travel expenses. The revelation adds to Omar’s growing list of violations. Drazkowski says this “continues a troubling pattern of state law violations.”
Earlier this year, Drazkowski discovered Omar accepted payments from campuses in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, a direct violation of House ethics rules.
Drazkowski also previously called out Omar for using campaign money to pay legal fees to her divorce attorney. The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board is currently conducting a formal investigation into the complaint, according to Drazkowski, and another complaint has been filed against Omar over his newest discovery.
Omar told the Associated Press that the claims are “politically motivated” and indicated she would not be addressing the violations.
