Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) could be “in a lot of trouble” for allegedly steering taxpayer money toward “fraudulent schemes,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in the latest episode of “Pod Force One.”
The Kentucky Republican lauded the Trump administration’s latest efforts “to prosecute people in Minnesota” for alleged fraud and making an example out of “that Somali crime ring up there,” before suggesting Omar could eventually be a target of the crackdown.
“I do think Ilhan Omar is in a lot of trouble,” Comer told “Pod Force One” host Miranda Devine.
“You got a situation there where you look at some of the earmarks she requested for her district were for some of those fraudulent schemes,” he added.
It’s unclear which earmarks Comer was referring to.
In the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandals, Omar has drawn scrutiny for championing the 2020 MEALS Act, which eased oversight of school-meal requirements during the pandemic and set the stage for the $250 million Feeding Our Future scam.
She was also called out by Republican lawmakers earlier this year for attempting to earmark more than $1 million to a Somali-led addiction recovery organization that shares an address with a Minneapolis Somali restaurant. The earmark was removed from a broader spending package in January.
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“When the Republicans took over Congress, they put these community development projects [earmarks] back in, but we put guardrails on them, so there wouldn’t be bridges to nowhere, and the LGBTQ museums, and all the crazy stuff that the left-wing liberals want. And one of the things that she submitted, they caught on the staff, and it wasn’t a legitimate project,” Comer continued.
Omar has vehemently denied any knowledge or connection to the rampant fraud plaguing the North Star State, and Comer noted there is “no evidence that she benefited” financially from the schemes. Omar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Comer said another “big question mark” involving Omar is “how her net worth jumped up to at least $6 million and then went back down to zero over a one year period.”
“She’s never really answered that other than saying she made a mistake,” the Oversight Committee chairman said.
Comer argued that “it’s hard to make a mistake” given that the software lawmakers use requires them to “triple” verify before submitting financial disclosures.
“I don’t know how she would miss three extra zeros or two extra zeros on something … it’s not even believable,” he said.
Comer confirmed that Omar is “being investigated” by the Justice Department.
“This Department of Justice in the last month has significantly increased their activity, which is good,” he said.
Devine also pressed Comer on the findings of the oversight panel’s investigation into convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
The chairman lamented that key witnesses to Epstein’s crimes were never interviewed by the DOJ, which is what his investigation is aiming at getting done.
“It’s just baffling to me, when we bring in Jeffrey Epstein’s accountant and his lawyer, that they were never interviewed by anyone in the Department of Justice – ever,” Comer said. “We bring in Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant, she said she never talked to anyone, not a single investigator, even though her name was in the DOJ files as a co-conspirator.
“Just things like that that make no sense to me that you wonder, was he being protected by someone? I don’t know. We’re trying to answer that question, but thus far I don’t think we’ve been able to.”
Comer continued, “We’re bringing in the victims and survivors now, and I think they’re going to be a lot more valuable witnesses than the rich and powerful men that we’ve been bringing in, who can’t recall anything, and the names that they recall just happened to be dead.”
