When it comes to American politics, the most important things are often what is missing. And in the case of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), House Oversight Chairman James Comer is pointing to an extraordinary mystery involving a winery, millions of dollars, and something that apparently wasn't there at all.
The Kentucky Republican laid out several lines of inquiry into Omar's finances and family history during a recent interview. But one particular allegation involving her husband's former wine business stands out.
"There were apparently selling investors barrels of wine to be aged, but there was nothing in the barrels," Comer said.
Empty barrels. That's quite a baffling product for a business once listed as being worth millions. The winery in question, eStCru Wines, a California company partially owned by Omar's husband, Tim Mynett, filed for termination on April 4. This came shortly after Omar amended her congressional financial disclosures.
Her original filings had valued Mynett's interest in the winery at between $1 million and $5 million. Earlier disclosures had placed it between a more modest $15,001 and $50,000. Then, dramatically, came the "correction."
Omar's amended filing reported zero equity value for the winery or Mynett's venture capital firm, Rose Lake Capital. Her office blamed an accounting error, claiming the original figures overstated her husband's actual wealth by failing to account properly for liabilities. "The original filing was based on incomplete information from Mr. Mynett's businesses' accountants in good faith and deference to professional judgment. It listed assets without liabilities, and it significantly overstated her husband's net worth. The accounting error created a misleading picture of far greater wealth," an Omar spokesperson told the Star Tribune.
Chairman Comer is far from satisfied. In his interview, the chairman stated there were "multiple fronts where you could get a search warrant issued," citing the financial disclosures, the winery, and other serious allegations involving Omar's family. Apparently, "accounting errors" don't make millions disappear without proper scrutiny.
Ilhan Omar is much like Oakland, as Gertrude Stein famously quipped, "There is no there there." And that brings us to another controversy where the central question is precisely what vital records may be missing.
Federal investigators have reportedly been examining questions surrounding Omar's immigration history, including her account of obtaining U.S. citizenship through her father's naturalization. This comes amid a gaping hole in her story: correspondence from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security reportedly show no naturalization record for Omar's father.
Then there is the mystery of Ilhan Omar's birth year. Reports indicate that Omar's staff requested a change to her birth year in a public reference record in 2019, from 1981 to 1982. Omar has consistently stated she became a citizen through her father before turning 18. If the earlier birth year is correct, that could prove to be a fraudulent statement, undermining her entire narrative.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama has criticized the federal investigation into Omar as an "appalling" abuse of power, accusing the administration of selectively targeting her over her political beliefs. This is rich, considering the source. It was, after all, Obama's IRS that notoriously targeted tea party and religious groups, his intelligence community that concocted the Russia Hoax, his law enforcement arm that carried out surveillance on a presidential campaign, and his lawless regime that engaged in non-stop election interference. The audacity is simply stunning.
In a Fox News column, attorney Mike Davis countered Obama's weaponization claims, arguing that the judicial warrant authorizing the search of Omar's home does not align with such accusations. Davis highlighted that a U.S. Magistrate Judge, Matthew Sharbaugh, reportedly signed the warrant, meaning the judge found probable cause that evidence of at least one federal crime was inside Omar's home. Davis pointed out that Judge Sharbaugh is "no puppet" of any administration, having been appointed by overwhelmingly leftist Obama and Biden appointees. "In reality, the truth is far more devastating for Democrats. Judge Sharbaugh's almost certain signature on that warrant shows beyond any reasonable doubt that this matter is serious and based in evidence. This is no political hit job."
Ilhan Omar is missing a lot of essential details in her cover story—the narrative of a poor "child refugee" escaping Somalia to find freedom in the United States. If all of these swirling investigations lead to criminal charges, Omar may just find herself back in her country of origin, perhaps wishing she had been more grateful for America's exceptional hospitality and the rule of law she seems to disregard.
