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Omar (D) Cited for Campaign Finance Violations

Ilhan Omar
Ilhan Omar / Getty Images
June 6, 2019

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) was ordered to repay over $3,000 to her campaign committee, as well as $500 to the state of Minnesota, after the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board cited her for multiple campaign spending violations.

News of the board's decision was first reported by James Rosen late Thursday afternoon.

 

 

The board's decision was unanimous and followed sworn testimony by Omar during the probe.

In tweets, Rosen explained the board found Omar accepted speaking fees and had erroneously used campaign funds to speak at a political rally in Boston among other transgressions.

Rosen reported in April that Omar was being investigated for potential campaign spending violations during her time as a state lawmaker.

Republican state representative Steve Drazkowski filed the complaints last year, claiming Omar "improperly spent close to $6,000 in campaign funds for personal use, including payments to her divorce attorney and for travel to Boston and Estonia. Drazkowski's filing of the two complaints followed an earlier episode in which Omar repaid $2,500 for honoraria she received for speeches at colleges that receive state funding, a violation of ethics rules for Minnesota lawmakers."

Omar has been a magnet for controversy since coming to Washington.

In March, House Democrats quickly cobbled together a resolution condemning hate after Omar made anti-Semitic comments at an event in Washington, D.C., saying she wanted "to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country."

One month prior to that incident, Omar had to apologize for anti-Semitic tweets, one which accused AIPAC of paying politicians to be pro-Israel.

A survey released earlier this week found 40 percent of American voters hold an unfavorable opinion of Omar, while only 21 percent have a favorable view.