Persistent claims that leftist congresswoman Ilhan Omar married her own brother to get around US immigration laws may be legitimized by what appears to be a conclusive DNA test. [136] The Democratic House leadership released a statement accusing Omar of "engaging in deeply offensive anti-Semitic tropes". [53][54] Drazkowski later accused Omar of improperly using campaign funds for personal travel to Estonia and locations in the U.S.[17][55][35] Omar's campaign dismissed the accusations as politically motivated and accused Drazkowski of using public funds to harass a Muslim candidate. [4][5], In March 2020, Omar married Tim Mynett, a political consultant whose political consulting firm, the E Street Group, received $2.78 million in contracts from Omar's campaign during the 2020 cycle. [170] In August 2019, Omar wrote on Twitter in support of the Palestinian LGBT rights group Al Qaws after the Palestinian Authority banned Al Qaws's activities in the West Bank. For example, "Ahmed Nur Said Elmi" implies that Ahmed's father is "Nur," his grandfather is "Said," and his great-grandfather is "Elmi." Also from 2009 until 2017, Ilhan Omar lived with, raised three kids with, and illegally filed multiple joint tax returns with a second man not Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. According to Omar, in 2011 she and Elmi had a faith-based divorce and she reconciled with Hirsi, with whom she had a third child in 2012. [139] Peter Beinart, after tweeting that the controversy was about "policing the American debate over Israel",[140] thought Omar's statement inaccurate, wrong and irresponsible, but argued that her congressional critics were more "bigoted" on Israeli-Palestinian issues than Omar. GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado is the latest high-profile conservative to revive the unverified claim amid other Islamophobic attacks and insults against Omar. [240], The 2018 documentary film Time for Ilhan (directed by Norah Shapiro, produced by Jennifer Steinman Sternin and Chris Newberry) chronicles Omar's political campaign. The duo was never officially married, at least at the time. [35][33] In response to an editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune arguing that Omar should be more transparent about her use of campaign funds, she said: "these people are part of systems that have historically been disturbingly motivated to silence, discredit and dehumanize influencers who threaten the establishment. She has said they had an unofficial, faith-based Islamic marriage. Omar legally married her second husband, Elmi, in 2009. Exacts Revenge", "Jayapal Joins Pocan As Co-Chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus", "Sanders proposes canceling entire $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loan debt, escalating Democratic policy battle", "Rep. Omar, alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, releases student-debt cancellation bill", "Ilhan Omar introduces bill to end school lunch debt shaming", "Democratic members of Congress arrested during pro-choice protest", "Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Omar among Democrats arrested at abortion rights protest", "Saudi Arabia Declares War on America's Muslim Congresswomen", "Who's afraid of Ilhan Omar? Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She and Hirsi married legally the following year. [237], In 2017, Time magazine named Omar among its "Firsts: Women who are changing the world," a special report on 46 women who broke barriers in their respective disciplines, and featured her on the cover of its September 18 issue. Elmi and Omar separated just two years later, in 2011, but did not get a legal divorce. Where he lived before he married Omar in 2009 in Minnesota remains a mystery. Prosecutors also alleged that Hasson was in contact with an American neo-Nazi leader, stockpiled weapons, and compiled a hit list. Omar "was living with her current husband, Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, throughout her entire legal marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, contradicting the story she tells to explain her multiple marriages," the Washington Examiner reported Sunday based on an extensive review of local records such as speeding tickets that display addresses. "Glorified and Vilified, Representative-Elect Ilhan Omar Tells Critics: Just Deal.'" Since then, he has been gallivanting around London attending music festivals, staying in posh hotels and frequenting local pubs. The 38-year-olds complicated personal life has been the subject of enduring scrutiny since she was sent to Congress at the 2018 midterm elections. She was married at the time to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi though Hirsi fathered her children. Forliti, Amy. Elmi also studied there for a period but dropped out, records show. [48][49] She authored 38 bills during the 20172018 legislative session. Complicating matters further, both the Star Tribune and the Examiner reported that the address in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights that Omar and Elmi listed on their 2009 marriage-license application was the same location Hirsi listed as his home address when applying for a business license with the state government that same year. After Johnson was elected, she served as his senior policy aide from 2013 to 2015. Both Ilhan Omar's 2009 marriage documents and her 2017 divorce proceedings state that Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was born on April 4, 1985. But the conspiracy is not without holes. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. [35] On October 7, 2019, Omar filed for divorce from Hirsi, citing an "irretrievable breakdown" of the marriage. When sworn into public office in 2016, Rep. Ilhan Omar was married to an individual named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. [23][24][25][26] She was raised by her father and grandfather, who were moderate Sunni Muslims opposed to the rigid Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. [245], In 2002, Omar became engaged to Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi (n Aden). Not only did all of Omar's six siblings also gain refugee status in the US, but siblings can sponsor one another for residency status and a green card under US immigration law negating the need for Omar and Elmi to commit fraud by getting married if he really were her brother. [67] She was sworn in on a copy of the Quran owned by her grandfather. [98], Omar supports Medicare for All as proposed in the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. Omar said. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. President Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Minneapolis. We've seen repeated reports alleging that Elmi and Omar are brother and sister. Omar has repeatedly denied that her second husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother; the congresswoman called the allegations "absurd and ridiculous." She says Elmi is a British citizen and. Omar said when pushed for answers about their marriage in 2016 that she was 'culturally married' to one of the men while 'legally married' to another. Conservative bloggers have for years claimed that Omar's second husband, British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother and that she married him to help him fraudulently gain a US green card. Since 2011, I am happy to say that I have reconciled with Ahmed Hirsi, we have married in our faith tradition and are raising our family together. Right-wing bloggers claimed that Omar is married to two men for immigration fraud purposes, and one of them, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother. Hirsi is the father of Omar's three children. Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, NOW WATCH: 8 key takeaways from Trump's State of the Union address, amid other Islamophobic attacks and insults against Omar, In a November 17 speech on the House floor, poured more fuel on the fire in a Tuesday statement, released a lengthy statement when she first ran for office in 2016. Omar eloped with British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009. . [171], Omar has been critical of U.S. foreign policy, and has called for reduced funding for "perpetual war and military aggression,"[172] saying, "knowing my tax dollars pay for bombs killing children in Yemen makes my heart break," with "everyone in Washington saying we don't have enough money in the budget for universal health care, we don't have enough money in the budget to guarantee college education for everyone. On another application dated September 30, 2002, Omar applied for a marriage license in Minnesota to marry the father of her . "[173][174], In May 2020, Omar signed a letter backed by AIPAC calling for the continuation of the UN embargo against Iran,[175] with her office noting that it was a "narrow ask that we couldnt find anything wrong with." BBC. "[108], In October 2019, Omar voted "present" on H.Res. "[212], Omar has frequently been the target of online hate speech. [212] Many foreign politicians condemned Trump's comments. If Elmi was so desperate for U.S. residency/citizenship status that he engaged in a sham "marriage" with his sister in order to seek it, why did he return to England after his split with Omar? [119][120], On November 5, 2021, Omar was one of six House Democrats to break with their party and vote against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because it was decoupled from the social safety net provisions in the Build Back Better Act. Coolican, J. Patrick. Ahmed married Omar in 2018 and divorced in 2019. "Ilhan Omar, Marriage, and Somali Culture: An FAQ." After that, he moved home to England. [50][51], In 2018, Republican state representative Steve Drazkowski publicly accused Omar of campaign finance violations,[17] claiming that she used campaign funds to pay a divorce lawyer, and that her acceptance of speaking fees from public colleges violated Minnesota House rules. The two agents said they would share the information with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the US Department of Education, but did not commit to opening an investigation into the firebrand lawmaker, the source said. Powerlineblog.com. Her brother was a British citizen. Omar is depicted with Hirsi and their children on Omar's campaign website here. In his honor I am voting for an inspirational ticket over desperate and maddening one", "Rep. Omar filed joint tax returns before she married husband", "Inside Ilhan Omar's tangled web of relationships", "Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar finalizes divorce", "US Rep. Ilhan Omar divorces husband in Minnesota", "Ilhan Omar makes history, becoming first Somali-American elected to U.S. House", "For Democrats, Ilhan Omar Is a Complicated Figure to Defend", "Ilhan Omar is right about the influence of the Israel lobby", "What the controversy over Ilhan Omar's tweets tells us about AIPAC today", "Trump demonized Somali refugees in Minnesota. Omar later clarified that she was referring to the well-documented influence pro-Israeli lobbyists, especially AIPAC, exert in Washington. Elmi's profile in the UK begins in 2013 whenhe started working as a public relations assistant that year, then went on to dabble in fashion writing. In 2009, Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a British Somali. [229][230], Omar received the 2015 Community Leadership Award from Mshale, an African immigrant media outlet based in Minneapolis. He has shut down a Facebook account he used to use and turned his Instagram account private on Thursday after Trump's comments. [68][69], Omar won the Democratic nomination in the August 11 Democratic primary, in which she faced four opponents. [25] Omar remembers her father's reaction to these incidents: "They are doing something to you because they feel threatened in some way by your existence. 14 September 2015. The Gateway Pundit has obtained information that is damning for Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. [22] She and her family fled Somalia to escape the Somali Civil War and spent four years in a Dadaab refugee camp in Garissa County, Kenya, near the Somali border. Omar called the resolution "historic on many fronts" and said, "We are tremendously proud to be part of a body that has put forth a condemnation of all forms of bigotry including anti-Semitism, racism, and white supremacy. Conservative websites have claimed for years that Omar's second husband was really her brother. [70][71] Melton-Meaux was also endorsed by Minnesota's largest newspaper, The Star Tribune. By ", In response to the rumor, Omar issued a statement in 2016 describing the issue as one based on "a difficult part of my personal history that I did not consider relevant in the context of a political campaign," and she labeled accusations that her former husband was also her brother "absurd and offensive. The post notes that Omar married Ahmed Hirsi in 2002. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider The statements were quickly criticized as allegedly drawing on antisemitic tropes. In 2008, they ended their relationship "in our faith tradition." State records show that in 2009, Ms. Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, who she said was a British citizen. [148] While Senator Cory Booker found her comments "disturbing", he recognized that some of the attacks against her had "anti-Islamic sentiment." Omar has very unfavorable ratings among Republican respondents and favorable ratings among Democratic respondents. New evidence indicates that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar was residing with her current husband, Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, while also being legally married to another man, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. The rating on this fact check was changed from "Unproven" to "Unfounded" a rating that Snopes launched after the initial publication of this page based on the absence of demonstrable evidence to support the claim. On a marriage certificate dated February 12, 2009, it says that Ilhan Abdullaahi Omar married a man by the name of Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in Hennepin County, Minnesota, who she herself identified as a British citizen. Omar's father Mohamed, is living in the US. He lists himself as the founder of an online magazine and counts Esquire magazine and Saatchi & Saatchi among former employers. [41], In 2013, Omar managed Andrew Johnson's campaign for Minneapolis City Council. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Minneapolis where he was living in a public housing complex and was later evicted. [192] Omar asked the court to be lenient with him. [197] In November 2019, Danielle Stella, Omar's Republican opponent for Congress, was banned from Twitter for suggesting that Omar be hanged for treason if found guilty of passing information to Iran. [246] Omar has said that she and Hirsi divorced within their faith tradition in 2008. Two FBI agents held an hours-long meeting in Minnesota in mid-October with a concerned party who handed over a trove of documents regarding Omars 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a source with knowledge of the event said. ", He added: "Whether by colluding with right-wing outlets to go after Muslim elected officials or hounding family members, legitimate media outlets have a responsibility not to fan the flames of hate.". [56] The Campaign Finance Board's investigation also found that in 2014 and 2015 Omar had jointly filed taxes with a man she was not legally married to. The strongest was mediation lawyer Antone Melton-Meaux, who raised $3.2 million in AprilJune 2020, compared to about $500,000 by Omar; much of Melton-Meaux's funding came from pro-Israel groups. 3. [6] Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. In short, he claimed to simply be a . Numerous public documents obtained and reported by news outlets including the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Washington Examiner, however, cast doubt on Omar's official timeline of her marriage and relationship history. He has been in Kenya for the last several weeks. At the time, she'd already had two children with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi and had been married and divorced from him in sharia law but their union was never legally recognized. Furthermore, the site Snopes pointed out some significant logical holes in the theory that Elmi is Omar's brother and that she married him to help him gain citizenship. [74][75] She defeated Republican Lacy Johnson and Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Michael Moore in the November 3 general election, with 64.3% of the vote to Johnson's 25.8% and Moore's 9.5%. The three government agencies said they would not confirm the existence of any ongoing or potential investigation. [Minneapolis] Star Tribune. "Fox 9 Removes Story About Investigation Into Ilhan Omar's Marriage History." "[123][129] The comment, particularly the notion that Israel had "hypnotized the world", was criticized as drawing on antisemitic tropes. [124][125] After the election her position changed, as her campaign office told Muslim Girl that she supports the BDS movement despite "reservations on the effectiveness of the movement in accomplishing a lasting solution. In contact with an American neo-Nazi leader, stockpiled weapons, and Somali Culture: FAQ! Marry the father of Omar 's campaign for Minneapolis City Council obtained information that is for. 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