A political consulting group co-owned by the husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., received nearly $635,000 in coronavirus relief funds, according to public records.
Tim Mynett, a political consultant who married Omar after working for her campaign and reportedly cheating on his wife with Omar, helped his E Street Group LLC earn $134,800 as part of the Paycheck Protection Program.
He was also given $500,000 in Economic Injury Disaster loans.
Omar has been paying her husband through her campaign over the past few years for his political consultancy.
She recently cut ties with his firm after winning her bid for reelection, funneling nearly $3 million to the firm though the 2020 election cycle.
In an email to her supporters in November, Omar said her campaign was terminating its contract with E Street Group 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,” the Star Tribune reported.
She also 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.”
My relationship with Tim began long after this work started.
We consulted with a top FEC campaign attorney to ensure there were no possible legal issues with our relationship. We were told this is not uncommon and that no, there weren’t.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 17, 2020
A campaign spokesman told the Associated Press on Monday that Omar commits to not using Mynett’s firm in future campaigns.
Omar has continued to insist that her use of Mynett’s firm did not violate campaign financing laws.
The Federal Election Commission allows lawmakers to hire family members or spouses to work on their campaigns, but a political ethics expert said the practice raises suspicion unnecessarily.
