Ilhan Omar's husband received $635,000 in Covid-19 bailout money for his consulting firm, despite the congresswoman paying his company nearly $2.25 million this year, according to a new report.
Tim Mynett's E Street Group was given $134,800 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and an additional $500,000 in Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) in April, records show.
Mynett co-owns the Washington D.C. firm, which has also been paid $2,256,700 since the start of 2020 from Omar's campaign for services that include digital advertising, fundraising consulting and website production, campaign records show.
DailyMail.com revealed that Omar married the political consultant back in March, which sparked scrutiny and a complaint to the Federal Election Commission by a conservative group that alleged campaign funds paid for Mynett's personal travel.
The FEC has taken no public action on that complaint, and Omar, 38, has said payments to Mynett's firm were legitimate.
Still, Omar announced in mid-November that her campaign was terminating its contract to 'make sure that anybody who is supporting our campaign with their time or financial support feels there is no perceived issue with that support'.
Ilhan Omar's husband received $635,000 in Covid-19 bailout money for his consulting firm, despite the congresswoman paying his company nearly $2.25 million this year, according to a new report
Tim Mynett's E Street Group was given $134,800 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and an additional $500,000 in Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) in April, records show
Mynett co-owns the Washington D.C. firm, which has also been paid $2,256,700 since the start of 2020 from Omar's campaign for services including digital advertising, fundraising consulting and website production, campaign records show
Omar wrote: 'Every dollar that was spent went to a team of more than twenty that were helping us fight back against attacks and organize on the ground and online in a COVID-19 world.
'And Tim - beyond his salary at the firm - received no profit whatsoever from the consulting relationship the firm provided.'
Omar's campaign was big business for E Street Group, reportedly paying the firm more than $1.1 million for advertising and consulting in the third quarter of this year alone.
The raw figures includes regular monthly payments of $67,000, broken down as $50,000 for 'digital advertising,' $12,000 for 'fundraising consulting' and $5,000 for 'digital consulting.'
The revelation raised eyebrows among some who accused the congresswoman - who is frequently a target of criticism from Republicans - of potential conflict of interest.
'Omar's campaign chest is looking more and more like a dowry,' Peter Flaherty, the head of a group which filed a complaint with the FEC over Omar's spending, told DailyMail.com back in April.
'Most candidates for federal office keep a close eye on their vendors to make sure they aren't being overcharged, but with her being married to her chief fundraiser the incentive may be the other way round as the money spent is going directly to the family.
'Basically, her campaign finance disclosures read more like a wedding registry where friends can make gifts to the happy couple,' added Flaherty, chairman of the conservative National Legal and Policy Center.
Mynett began working for Omar during the 2018 election - which she won by a landslide.
Still, Omar announced in mid-November that her campaign was terminating its contract to 'make sure that anybody who is supporting our campaign with their time or financial support feels there is no perceived issue with that support'
DailyMail.com revealed that Omar married the political consultant back in March, which sparked scrutiny and a complaint to the Federal Election Commission by a conservative group that alleged campaign funds paid for Mynett's personal travel
It is not known when Omar and Mynett, who were both married at the time, began their relationship.
However, a divorce filing by Mynett's former wife revealed the couple separated in April 2019 after he declared his love for Omar.
Mynett and his former wife, who had been together since 2006 and have a 13-year-old son, got divorced in December last year after seven years of marriage.
Meanwhile Omar and her former husband Ahmed Hirsi divorced in November last year.
Omar and Hirsi had been married in a faith-based ceremony in 2002 and divorced as per Islamic custom in 2008. They had two children together.
The pair legally remarried in 2018 after reconciling in 2011 and having another child the following year.
Omar and Mynett announced they had married on Instagram in March this year, after they were pictured together by Dailymail.com wearing rings.
It is not known when Omar and Mynett, who were both married at the time, began their relationship. Meanwhile Omar and her former husband Ahmed Hirsi divorced in November last year.
A divorce filing by Mynett's former wife revealed the couple separated in April 2019 after he declared his love for Omar. Mynett and his former wife, who had been together since 2006 and have a 13-year-old son, got divorced in December last year after seven years of marriage
At the time, she released a lengthy Twitter statement on the issue, saying the couple had discussed their relationship with an FEC attorney, who told them it was permitted under the law.
Sixties-era federal anti-nepotism laws prohibit politicians from giving jobs to family members, but do not block relatives from doing campaign work.
The marriage is Omar's third. After her divorce from Hirsi, she married Ahmed Elmi in 2009 but the pair split in 2011 and officially divorced in 2017.
Discrepancies in Omar's explanation of her marriage to Elmi - a British Somali - have fuelled an online conspiracy theory that he is her brother and they married as part of an immigration scam.
However the likelihood of such a scam is slim as siblings can sponsor one another for residency and green card status so even if Elmi was Omar's brother - which she disputes - there would be no need to conduct a marriage scam in order for him to stay in the US.
Additionally, Elmi returned to the United Kingdom after his split from Omar so it seems unlikely that he would have gone to such lengths to gain residency in the US.
Despite no evidence existing to support the theory - which Omar has described as 'absurd and offensive' - it has been parroted frequently by her critics including President Donald Trump.
Born in Somalia, Omar came to America as a refugee with her father and siblings in 1995.
The family settled in Minneapolis and she became a US citizen.
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