Washington (Somalia Today) – Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar clarified that an accounting error overstated her household wealth on congressional disclosure forms, after House Republicans and President Donald Trump seized on a filing that showed assets up to $30 million.
According to The Wall Street Journal report, An amended disclosure shows the Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, Tim Mynett, hold assets worth between $18,004 and $95,000.
That was far below the $6 million to $30 million range listed in her previous annual filing, a jump that fuelled scrutiny from conservative critics.
The updated filing says two of Mynett’s businesses — a Washington venture capital management firm and a California winery — had no net value after accounting for liabilities.
Aides to the congresswoman said Omar had reviewed the original document before filing, but did not spot the error because she is not involved in her husband’s businesses and relied on figures provided by his accountant.
“The amended disclosure confirms what we’ve said all along: The congresswoman is not a millionaire,” said Jacklyn Rogers, an Omar spokeswoman.
Rogers added that Omar amended her disclosures voluntarily as soon as the discrepancy came to light.
‘Nothing untoward’
Under the Ethics in Government Act, members of Congress disclose most assets in broad value ranges rather than exact dollar amounts.
The new filings came in response to a March letter from the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC), an independent, nonpartisan House body that reviews allegations of misconduct involving lawmakers and staff.
A Washington lawyer representing Omar told the OCC in a letter that the inaccurate filing was unintentional.
“As the busiest of people, it is very common for members and their spouses to rely on learned professionals like accountants to make calculations and determinations that appear on public filings,” the lawyer wrote.
“While the error is, of course, unfortunate, there is nothing untoward and nothing illegal has occurred,” the letter added.
Despite the lower asset figure, the amended filing still showed substantial 2024 income from the couple’s shared holdings, ranging from $102,503 to $1,005,200.
Documentation attached to the lawyer’s letter showed $213,200 in distributions to Mynett from his venture capital management firm and $3,000 from the winery.
The new disclosure also showed Omar held between $15,001 and $50,000 in student debt, as well as credit card debt in the same range.
The correction came as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer opened an inquiry into businesses linked to Mynett.
Earlier this year, the Kentucky Republican said the reported value of Mynett’s businesses had risen from about $51,000 in 2023 to as much as $30 million in 2024.
Comer said “unknown individuals may be investing to gain influence with your wife,” as Republicans stepped up scrutiny of Omar and her family finances.
Omar’s office said on Friday that she had received no further communication from congressional Republicans or the Justice Department regarding threatened investigations.
Trump attacks
The financial scrutiny comes amid a broader political campaign against the Somali-born lawmaker, who arrived in the United States as a refugee in the 1990s.
Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th district, which includes Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, has frequently drawn Trump’s ire since her election to Congress.
Trump has repeatedly singled out Omar in public remarks while escalating attacks on Somali communities in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population in the United States.
In recent months, Trump has described Somali immigrants as “garbage” and suggested Omar should be sent back to “where they came from,” despite her being a naturalised US citizen.
Omar responded by calling the remarks “completely disgusting” and accusing the president of having “an unhealthy and creepy obsession” with both her and the Somali community.
“For years, he has called for investigations against me, and they have found nothing,” she said.
Trump and his allies have tied those attacks to the sprawling “Feeding Our Future” fraud case in Minnesota, which has become a political flashpoint.
Pandemic fraud fallout
The case involved the theft of more than $250 million from a federally funded child nutrition programme during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the founder of the nonprofit at the centre of the case, Aimee Bock, is white, many of the co-defendants were Somali Americans.
Federal prosecutors have continued to pursue the case, securing dozens of convictions in what they described as one of the largest pandemic-era fraud schemes in the United States.
The Trump administration has also used the scandal to justify a broader immigration enforcement push in Minnesota.
Tensions escalated earlier this year when Omar’s office accused federal agents of killing two residents during an operation in the state.
Omar has remained defiant under pressure and has continued to call for the abolition of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The amended disclosure may blunt one line of Republican attack by showing that the millions reported in the earlier filing did not reflect the couple’s net assets.
But the correction is unlikely to end the political clash between Omar, Trump and Republican lawmakers who have kept the Minnesota Democrat in their sights.
