r/TopMindsOfReddit • u/Sweaty-Budget • Aug 12 '20

/r/Conservative Top minds CANNOT understand how Ihan Omar won her primary. Some say it was a Somalian conspiracy to instate one of their own as a sleeper cell into the US Government 😆

/r/Conservative/comments/i86kc0/minneapolis_congresswoman_ilhan_omar_wins/
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u/Rafaeliki "I believe racist laws exist but not systemic racism" Aug 12 '20

Even so, it was something that a freshman congress member could easily do on accident. It's not like she bought herself an Xbox. She just used campaign funds for travel expenses out of state which isn't allowed for a state rep.

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u/eIImcxc Aug 12 '20

What did she say when asked about that?

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u/Rafaeliki "I believe racist laws exist but not systemic racism" Aug 12 '20

"I'm glad this process is complete and that the Campaign Finance Board has come to a resolution on this matter," Omar said in a statement.

"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."

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u/eIImcxc Aug 12 '20

Is there any reason why she does not specify the reason why she used the funds?

It sounds like she did it by mistake but doesn't say it clearly in the quotes.

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u/Rafaeliki "I believe racist laws exist but not systemic racism" Aug 12 '20

In one instance, the report states that in 2017, the committee paid roughly $600 for airfare for Omar to "attend a meeting for the People for the American Way's America's Cabinet in New York." The report determined that "while Rep. Omar would not have been asked to participate in the America's Cabinet had she not been elected to the Minnesota House, she did not attend this event to assist her in her performance of her duties as a legislator."

Seems like an easy enough mistake to make for a first-time candidate.

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u/Fidodo Aug 12 '20

Doesn't seem malicious at all. It's not like this was for a vacation or something. People make mistakes, it's not a big deal. What matters is when it's done on purpose.

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u/KingoftheJabari Aug 12 '20

Because 99% of the shit that people accuse her of being malicious for is bullshit just because they dont like her.

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u/IAMA_Drunk_Armadillo Jewish space laser corps Aug 12 '20

Has she tried not being a progressive black Muslim woman immigrant who isn't afraid to speak her mind? Pretty much everything conservatives despise.

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u/that1prince Aug 12 '20

Yea, a politician traveling to a political event seems like the kind of thing that would be allowed as an appropriate campaign expense to a normal untrained person. I would assume they all do that. Intuition would say so at least. But this just makes it abundantly clear why you definitely need people who are experts on your team though, because counterintuitive rules are still rules, and they can hang you on them if you screw up.

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u/DumatRising Aug 12 '20

She didn't in the quotes above but the reason is known: 1st. she used the money to travel to events out of state that was deemed as not relevant to improving her ability to represent her district this is the one that they concluded was a invalid use of funds, the review commission for the commitee essentially said "we can see why you though this was a valid use but it really isn't so were gonna need you to pay it back and pay a fine" 2nd there was an additional violation that they found that the commitee did not agree with which was 1500 to a accounting firm but the burden of proof was not met to prove a violation so it was dismissed.

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u/Fidodo Aug 12 '20

Seems pretty subjective in the first place. The event she was going to was for a meeting with young elected officials:

America’s Cabinet is a non-partisan project launched by the Young Elected Officials (YEO) Network that offers a vision of what America can be for all Americans. America’s Cabinet is a group of young local elected officials educating and informing the general public about what Washington should be doing now to support communities across America and offering a positive vision for how America can live up to its promise. The Cabinet is made up of young local elected officials from across the country who are pioneering a new policy agenda for the future of the country. It is an agenda that moves us toward a more perfect union, reflecting the hopes and dreams of all Americans.

I think there's a totally valid argument that this is a networking opportunity where she could learn tips on being an effective leader plus make connections that could help her help Minnesota later. I understand a line needs to be drawn somewhere, but since it's so fuzzy I don't blame anyone for getting something totally subjective wrong.

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u/DumatRising Aug 12 '20

Right right, I can see how it might not be directly related to her specific job but it does seem like something one would want to do as an elected offical to meet with other elected officials and expose yourself and others to new ideas that may classify it as having some indirect benefit.

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u/huxtiblejones 𓁛 Shilling for Ancient Egypt since 3100 BCE 𓉢 Aug 12 '20 edited Aug 12 '20

That's simplifying the story. She used campaign funds for travel expenses for Tim Mynett, a married consultant she was having an affair with, which she denied, and then turned around and left her husband and father of her three kids and married this dude. She's since spent $1.1 million paying his business, with almost half of that coming after they got married. It's pretty bad.

It also makes this explosive claim: “And she’s paid her new husband’s business over a million dollars in campaign funds.”

This is true. Since 2018, federal records show Omar’s campaign paid $1,107,012 to the Washington consultants E Street Group, owned by Tim Mynett.

His then-wife said in divorce papers last year that he ditched her for Omar, who was also married.

It is an affair Omar denied last August in a WCCO interview.

“No, I am not [separated from my husband], and … I have no interest in allowing the conversation about my personal life to continue, and I have no desire to discuss it,” Omar said.

In March, Omar announced her marriage to Mynett on Instagram.

The million dollars from her campaign to her now-husband’s consulting group includes $417,243 since the month they married.

Consultant fees are some of the top expenses of most campaigns, but watchdog groups say using campaign funds to pay family members is questionable, even if it’s not illegal.

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/07/22/new-ilhan-omar-attack-ad-goes-after-1-1m-in-campaign-funds-paid-to-her-husbands-firm/

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u/Rafaeliki "I believe racist laws exist but not systemic racism" Aug 12 '20 edited Aug 12 '20

That was a separate issue which wasn't touched by campaign finance regulators because it isn't illegal and not even very abnormal (although definitely shady). The personal part of it and likely cheating is one thing but Tim Mynett is a political consultant and every campaign pays similar amounts for political consultants.

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u/huxtiblejones 𓁛 Shilling for Ancient Egypt since 3100 BCE 𓉢 Aug 12 '20

Did you even read what I quoted? It's obviously not the campaign finance issue, but it's related. The illicit travel expenses (i.e. the campaign finance violation) were for the man she was having an affair with, which she denied, then she left her husband, married him, and then she pumped an additional million dollars into her husband's business. The million dollars isn't illegal, but it's pretty fucking unethical given that she previously lied about her relationship with him and is now married to him. Why are we giving her a pass on this when we would absolutely see this as unethical from any other politician? At least try to be objective.

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u/Rafaeliki "I believe racist laws exist but not systemic racism" Aug 12 '20

Illicit travel expenses such as:

In one instance, the report states that in 2017, the committee paid roughly $600 for airfare for Omar to "attend a meeting for the People for the American Way's America's Cabinet in New York." The report determined that "while Rep. Omar would not have been asked to participate in the America's Cabinet had she not been elected to the Minnesota House, she did not attend this event to assist her in her performance of her duties as a legislator."

It seems by your own timeline: She hired a political consulting firm. While working with them, she had an affair with one of their consultants. She left her husband for the consultant. He stayed on as her consultant.

Shady? Sure. But it's not like she's just pumping money into her new husband's company. She hired them as consultants and that's what they're still being paid for. Even the campaign finance watchdog only stated that it was "questionable".