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By STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Home Oversight Committee on Friday requested information associated to corporations partially owned by the husband of Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, taking the extraordinary step of scrutinizing the partner of a sitting Home member.
Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, launched a letter to Timothy Mynett, a former Democratic political advisor who’s married to Omar, requesting information associated to a pair of firms that had a considerable bounce in worth between 2023 and 2024, in line with monetary disclosures filed by the congresswoman.
Comer’s request marked a extremely uncommon transfer by the chair of a committee with a historical past of taking over politically-charged investigations, however nearly all the time centered on authorities officers exterior of Congress. The Home Ethics Committee, which is comprised of an equal variety of Democrats and Republicans and tries to keep away from political fights, usually handles allegations involving lawmakers and their members of the family.
But since her 2018 election as one of many first Muslim girls within the Home, Omar has acquired nearly-nonstop assaults from the fitting. She has dismissed allegations round her funds as “deceptive” and based mostly on conspiracy theories.
A spokesperson for Omar, Jackie Rogers, mentioned in an announcement that Comer’s letter was “a political stunt” and a part of a marketing campaign “meant to fundraise, not actual oversight.”
“That is an try and orchestrate a smear marketing campaign towards the congresswoman, and it’s disgusting that our tax {dollars} are getting used to malign her,” Rogers added.
Comer has additionally displayed a willingness to push the standard parameters of the Oversight panel. In a separate investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, he’s imposing subpoenas for depositions from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Invoice Clinton, marking the primary time a former president shall be pressured to seem earlier than Congress.
Within the letter to Mynett on Friday, Comer mentioned, “There are severe public considerations about how your companies elevated so dramatically in worth solely a 12 months after reporting very restricted belongings.”
There isn’t a proof of wrongdoing by Omar, however President Donald Trump additionally mentioned final month that the Division of Justice is wanting into her funds.
In response to the president, Omar mentioned on social media that “your assist is collapsing and also you’re panicking,” including that “Years of ‘investigations’ have discovered nothing.”
The scrutiny of Omar’s funds comes from a required monetary disclosure assertion she filed in Could final 12 months. She reported then that two corporations tied to her husband, a vineyard known as eStCru and an funding agency known as Rose Lake Capital, had risen in worth by at the least $5.9 million {dollars}. Lawmakers report belongings inside ranges of greenback figures, so it was not clear precisely how a lot the corporations had risen in worth or what possession stake Mynett had in them.
Omar has additionally identified that her husband’s reported earnings from the vineyard was between $5,000 and $15,000 and none from Rose Lake Capital.
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