Is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) skipping out on her job to avoid a bombshell financial scandal tied to her and her husband that’s erupted this week?
One Minnesota Republican lawmaker is demanding answers after the infamous “Squad” lawmaker failed to appear at a state hearing examining her potential connections to the sprawling pandemic-era fraud scandal.
Minnesota State Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, sent a formal letter to Omar yesterday criticizing her absence from a scheduled committee hearing she was invited to and requesting extensive documentation related to the “Feeding Our Future” investigation that has gained national attention in recent months.
“Minnesotans and the Members of the House Fraud Prevention & State Oversight Committee were disappointed that you failed to appear before our committee to answer questions,” Robbins wrote in the letter, referring to Omar’s no-show at a hearing focused on the MEALS Act, a federal COVID-19 relief measure passed in 2020 and sponsored by Omar.
Robbins said the committee still expects answers and is now formally requesting records from Omar’s office in addition to several questions outlined in the letter.
Among the requests coming from Robbins include asking Omar to turn over communications showing how she promoted expanded access to federal child nutrition programs, including emails, texts and meeting records with the Minnesota Department of Education and constituents.
The committee’s request is also focusing on Omar’s public promotion of a Minneapolis restaurant that later became linked to the program.
In her letter, Robbins cited a Somali-language TV appearance in which Omar highlighted Safari Restaurant as a meal distribution site and asked for all communications related to the video and the restaurant’s participation.
The video of that promotion was played during Tuesday’s committee meeting as the lawmakers discussed the ties between Omar and individuals within the Minneapolis Somali community associated with the fraud.
“She didn’t even respond, ghosted us,” Robbins told Fox News about Omar ignoring an invitation to appear at the hearing.
“And her Meals Act is what created the conditions that allowed Feeding Our Future to happen.”
When asked if Omar has ever responded to any requests from the committee, Robbins said, “No, we’ve sent multiple emails, multiple letters, nothing.”
Robbins, who is running for governor of Minnesota, has given Omar a May 5 deadline for a written response and the requested materials, according to reports.
The letter and the information requested of Omar marks the latest escalation in Republican-led scrutiny of the Feeding Our Future scandal, which federal prosecutors say involved the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded child nutrition aid during the COVID-19 pandemic under the backdrop of a larger fraud crisis in Omar’s home state of Minnesota that is believed to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
Omar’s office has yet to comment on the letter or the missed hearing at the time of publication.
Omar’s sudden disappearance is also on the heels of a financial scandal that has erupted involving her and her husband.
In May last year, Omar claimed she and her husband, Tim Mynett, held assets worth between $6 million and $30 million.
Last September, the Washington Free Beacon revealed Omar’s net worth had skyrocketed by as much as 3,500% in 2024, based on the disclosure filed at the time.
However, an amended filing reported by the Wall Street Journal last week put the couple’s wealth at between $18,004 and $95,000, a “discrepancy” the liberal lawmaker claimed the initial filing was riddled with accounting errors, and subsequently disavowed.
According to multiple reports, Mynett, a former political consultant, is involved in several businesses, including DC-based venture capital management firm Rose Lake Capital and a Santa Rosa, Calif., winery.
The winery listed assets worth between $1 million and $5 million in the 2024 disclosure and his Rose Lake Capital touted assets worth $5 million to $25 million.
Rose Lake Capital previously claimed on its website to manage some $60 billion in assets.
Omar filed an amended disclosure in response to questions from the Office of Congressional Conduct, showing the businesses as having no value once liabilities are factored in.
“The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” Omar spokeswoman Jacklyn Rogers told the Journal.
“The congresswoman amended her disclosures voluntarily as soon as the discrepancy was identified.”
However, Republicans are not turning a blind eye to Omar’s sudden financial discrepancies.
“Ilhan cannot escape accountability much longer. Investigations are ongoing in House committees. The Trump administration has waged war on fraud,” House GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told reporters Tuesday.
“If Ilhan Omar is discovered to have been involved in any or to have benefited in any way from any fraud, she must be held accountable,” he added.
“By the way, that includes marriage fraud.”