State Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-MN) addressed allegations about the legality of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) marriage in a Thursday interview with Breitbart News Tonight hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak following the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board’s conclusion that Omar had committed several campaign finance violations.
Drazkowski recalled Omar’s history of campaign violations dating back to her time as a state representative in Minnesota’s legislature.
“It seemed that [Ilhan Omar] deliberately waited to file her statement of economic interest, which is a statement that you disclose some of your economic interests to the people of Minnesota,” explained Drazkowski. “That was due in January of 2018, and Representative Omar waited until June of 2018 to file it. Waiting that long after receiving numerous phone calls and reminders from the campaign finance board … she accrued a $1,000 penalty from the campaign finance board.”
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Omar’s financial disclosure filing as a state representative listed three honorariums received from different state colleges in Minnesota, added Drazkowski, noting that such receptions are “expressly prohibited” by the Minnesota legislature’s rules.
“It’s certainly a huge conflict of interest, especially since she sat then on the House Higher Education Committee that made the finance decisions for these universitie,” remarked Drazkowski. “[Ilhan Omar received] somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000 worth of honorariums back then from these institutions.“
“She had about two or three other campaign violations [as a] new state representative,” said Drazkowski. “I had never seen that amount of campaign finance law violations.”
Breitbart News reported on the Minnesota campaign finance board’s findings:
The board’s investigation into Omar found several violations. It noted that while none of Omar’s legal expenses had been for her divorce, she had spent $1,500 on legal expenses related to her personal taxes that were not sufficiently related to the campaign. Furthermore, the board found that some of her out-of-state travel expenses were not related to her legislative duties. She has been ordered to pay reimbursements to her campaign, to file amended campaign finance statements, and to pay a civil fine of $500 to the state.
Omar’s conduct illustrated “disregard and disdain for our law,” alleged Drazkowski. “She is thumbing her nose at the law and the ethics.”
Drazkowski described Omar’s left-wing political use of her sex, race, and religion as reflexive.
“[Ilhan Omar] would use her race and sex to the biggest political advantage she could in her discussions on the House floor,” stated Drazkowski. “She would enter into House discussions and have House resolutions brought forward that focused on those and were rooted in the fact that she was a Muslim, or that she was black, or that she was a woman.”
Drazkowski described Omar’s politics as “really divisive,” stating, “[Ilhan Omar] oftentimes lobbed volleys at Republicans in the House and said that our motivations were not pure and tried to lead the House discussion to believe that … they didn’t care about kids in her district.”
Pollak shared allegations that Omar “married a man who may be her brother to facilitate his entry into the United States,” subsequently marrying “her actual husband.” He noted Omar’s derision of the claims as “racist, Islamophobic, and misogynistic.”
Drazkowski replied, “Islamophobic, misogynistic, racist. That’s just a standard response [from Ilhan Omar], regardless of the issue.”
Breitbart News reported on revelations of Omar’s filing of joint tax returns with Ahmed Hirsi while married to Ahmed Elmi:
The campaign finance board’s report notes that Omar filed joint tax returns with Hirsi. But by her own admission in 2016, she was not yet legally divorced from Elmi. There is no legal basis for a joint filing by an unmarried couple.
“[Ilhan Omar] is married to one guy legally and at the same time is filing joint tax returns with a different guy,” added Drawkowski, noting the Minnesota campaign board’s finding that Omar filed joint tax returns with Ahmed Hirsi in 2014 and 2015 while married to Ahmed Elmi.
“The red portion of Minnesota … wants the law followed,” said Drazkowski. “They want everybody to follow the law equally, and not have special treatment of people because of where they come from or because of nuances … people want to introduce to legitimize breaking of the law.”
Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot channel 125 weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern or 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific.
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.
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