Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) may very well be “in plenty of bother” for allegedly steering taxpayer cash towards “fraudulent schemes,” Home Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) stated within the newest episode of “Pod Drive One.”
The Kentucky Republican lauded the Trump administration’s newest efforts “to prosecute folks in Minnesota” for alleged fraud and making an instance out of “that Somali crime ring up there,” earlier than suggesting Omar may ultimately be a goal of the crackdown.
“I do suppose Ilhan Omar is in plenty of bother,” Comer informed “Pod Drive One” host Miranda Devine.
“You bought a state of affairs there the place you take a look at a few of the earmarks she requested for her district have been for a few of these fraudulent schemes,” he added.
It’s unclear which earmarks Comer was referring to.
Within the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandals, Omar has drawn scrutiny for championing the 2020 MEALS Act, which eased oversight of school-meal necessities through the pandemic and set the stage for the $250 million Feeding Our Future rip-off.
She was additionally known as out by Republican lawmakers earlier this yr for trying to earmark greater than $1 million to a Somali-led habit restoration group that shares an tackle with a Minneapolis Somali restaurant. The earmark was eliminated from a broader spending bundle in January.
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“When the Republicans took over Congress, they put these neighborhood improvement initiatives [earmarks] again in, however we put guardrails on them, so there wouldn’t be bridges to nowhere, and the LGBTQ museums, and all of the loopy stuff that the left-wing liberals need. And one of many issues that she submitted, they caught on the employees, and it wasn’t a legit challenge,” Comer continued.
Omar has vehemently denied any data or connection to the rampant fraud plaguing the North Star State, and Comer famous there’s “no proof that she benefited” financially from the schemes. Omar’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
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Comer stated one other “huge query mark” involving Omar is “how her web price jumped as much as at the very least $6 million after which went again all the way down to zero over a one yr interval.”
“She’s by no means actually answered that aside from saying she made a mistake,” the Oversight Committee chairman stated.
Comer argued that “it’s laborious to make a mistake” provided that the software program lawmakers use requires them to “triple” confirm earlier than submitting monetary disclosures.
“I don’t understand how she would miss three further zeros or two further zeros on one thing … it’s not even plausible,” he stated.
Comer confirmed that Omar is “being investigated” by the Justice Division.
“This Division of Justice within the final month has considerably elevated their exercise, which is nice,” he stated.
Devine additionally pressed Comer on the findings of the oversight panel’s investigation into convicted intercourse predator Jeffrey Epstein.
The chairman lamented that key witnesses to Epstein’s crimes have been by no means interviewed by the DOJ, which is what his investigation is aiming at getting carried out.
“It’s simply baffling to me, after we usher in Jeffrey Epstein’s accountant and his lawyer, that they have been by no means interviewed by anybody within the Division of Justice – ever,” Comer stated. “We usher in Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant, she stated she by no means talked to anybody, not a single investigator, although her title was within the DOJ recordsdata as a co-conspirator.
“Simply issues like that that make no sense to me that you simply surprise, was he being protected by somebody? I don’t know. We’re making an attempt to reply that query, however so far I don’t suppose we’ve been capable of.”
Comer continued, “We’re bringing within the victims and survivors now, and I feel they’re going to be much more precious witnesses than the wealthy and highly effective males that we’ve been bringing in, who can’t recall something, and the names that they recall simply occurred to be lifeless.”
