Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar, who was revealed to have filed joint tax returns with a man who wasn't her husband in the fallout from a state campaign-finance misbehavior investigation, is clamming up about the issue.
"In response to questions from the Associated Press, her campaign sent an emailed statement saying, 'All of Rep. Omar's tax filings are fully compliant with all applicable tax law,'" according to a Daily Mail report.
But, it said, "The campaign did not make Omar available for an interview or answer specific questions from the AP."
The scandal was uncovered during an investigation by the state of Minnesota over her state campaign finance violations.
The Muslim congresswoman, who ranted about Christians imposing their beliefs on society after forcing the U.S. House of Representatives to change its rules so she could wear a hijab to work, was found by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to have violated state law and ordered to repay nearly $3,500 to her campaign.
She also was fined $500 for violating the rules.
The disputed expenditures included payments to a lawyer in connection to claims she once married her brother.
The Daily Mail reported that same investigation confirmed "she had filed joint tax returns with her husband years before they were legally married and at a time when she was married to another man."
"The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board said Thursday that Omar and her husband, Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, filed joint tax returns for 2014 and 2015 – before they were actually married and while Omar was legally wed to another man," the report said.
"While some states allow for joint filing for 'common law"'marriages, Minnesota does not, and filing joint tax returns with someone who is not your legal spouse is against both federal and state law."
The issue came to light when a complaint was filed accusing Omar of misusing campaign funds, an allegation substantiated by the state investigation.
As the Daily Mail reported: "According to marriage records, Omar applied for a license in 2002 to marry her current husband, Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, who Omar says went by Ahmed Abdisalan Aden at the time. A marriage certificate wasn't issued and Omar has said they didn't pursue a civil marriage but instead married in their Muslim faith tradition. Omar and Hirsi had two children, but ended their relationship in 2008. Omar then married Elmi, whom she said is a British citizen, in 2009, according to a marriage certificate. Omar said that relationship ended in 2011 and the two divorced in their faith tradition, but Omar didn't take legal action to divorce him until 2017. Divorce records say Omar and Hirsi reunited and had a third child together in June 2012. Omar legally married Hirsi in early 2018, a month after her divorce from Elmi was finalized."
The Internal Revenue Service says that by law it cannot comment on the tax filings of a citizen.
WND reported earlier that the alleged law-breaking was during Omar's tenure in the Minnesota state House in 2016 and 2017.
The disallowed payments include $1,500 her campaign paid to a law firm following the formation of a "crisis committee" in August 2016 to respond to allegations that Omar "married to her brother as part of an immigration scheme," according to the state investigation.
The report also said the campaign made improper air fare payments for Omar to go to Boston and "improperly paid the hotel costs" for Omar to go to Washington. Other trips also were disallowed.
Columnist Michelle Malkin tweeted that the investigation resulted from complaints from Minnesota Republican state Rep. Steve Drazkowski.
Twitchy noted there was another improper payment of $750 for "obtaining immigration records."
And there was more.
"Things that make you go hmmm: Read this closely and keep in mind that @ilhanmn was legally married to Ahmed Elmi from 2009-2017 while also filing joint tax returns with Ahmed Hirsi is 2014 and 2015. Time to get federal IRS officials involved…" Malkin wrote.
Things that make you go hmmm: Read this closely and keep in mind that @ilhanmn was legally married to Ahmed Elmi from 2009-2017 while also filing joint tax returns with Ahmed Hirsi in 2014 and 2015. Time to get federal IRS officials involved... pic.twitter.com/QERg3PoBZD
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) June 6, 2019
Commentator David Steinberg noted the report "appears to confirm … @ilhanmn may have filed eight years of fraudulent federal and state tax returns." Since she was elected last November, controversy has followed Omar, who backed terrorists who fired more than 700 rockets at Israel and claimed Gaza was under "occupation" by Israel, even though the Jewish state voluntarily gave Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005.
A 2017 tweet recently was unearthed in which Omar cast the U.S. Army as the villain in the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia.
Omar first came under fire for tweeting in 2012 that "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."
In February, she insinuated in a tweet that politicians in the U.S. were bought by AIPAC, the non-partisan group seeking to foster relations between the U.S. and Israel.
She followed that tweet with another that echoed the anti-Semitic "dual loyalty" trope. Pro-Israel activists, she said, were pushing members of Congress to have "allegiance to a foreign country."
Then, in a speech at a fundraiser for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Omar characterized the 9/11 terror attacks by saying, "some people did something."