OOPS! Ilhan Omar claims her millions in assets actually were ‘accounting error’

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at the Twin Cities Pride Parade in Minneapolis on June 24, 2018. (Wikimedia Commons)
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at the Twin Cities Pride Parade in Minneapolis on June 24, 2018.

There have been many reports, often speculating on the source of money for Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., after she reported essentially a negative net worth one year and then assets of up to $30 million a year later, in her congressional financial disclosures.

Especially since her Somali-majority district in Minnesota has been the scene in recent years of what federal authorities are charging is billions of dollars worth of social services program fraud.

In fact, she unsuccessfully tried to have Congress turn over a million dollars to an “addiction recovery” group, which chose to use a Minneapolis Somali restaurant as its business address.

But now she’s explained, all those millions were just an “accounting error.”

The Gateway Pundit reported her asset estimates of between $6 million and $30 million suddenly have been revised to show assets between $18,000 and $95,000, and commented, “That’s quite a difference.”

Social media jumped on her changes: “Lying on a federal document is fraud, not a mistake, if they allow this it shows you they truly do not care about the laws for themselves but we already knew that….”

And, “Oopsie! Turbotax is so confusing!”

A report at the Daily Mail said the result of the changes is that she is “facing intensifying scrutiny over her finances.”

President Donald Trump had suggested she be investigated for her sudden rise in wealth.

Her office issued a statement after the changes were made. “The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire.”

The statement said the disclosures were changed “as soon as the discrepancy was identified.”

The report explained, “The earlier filing attributed significant value to business interests tied to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, a former political consultant involved in ventures including a Washington-based venture-capital management firm and a winery in Santa Rosa, California. In the amended disclosure, those same businesses are now listed as having no value once liabilities are taken into account”

Her lawyer told the Office of Congressional Conduct nothing was her fault.

“As the busiest of people, it is very common for members and their spouses to rely on learned professionals like accountants to make calculations and determinations that appear on public filings.

“While the error is of course unfortunate, there is nothing untoward and nothing illegal has occurred,” the lawyer said.

The House Oversight Committee also had been looking into the situation, “at a time that a $9 billion Somali social services fraud scandal also exploded in her state,” the report said.

Before the changes her disclosure placed the value of an asset firm involving her husband at between $5 million and $25 million. A second company, a California winery known as ESTCRU, jumped from a valuation topping out at $50,000 to as much as $5 million over the same period.

 

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