Why are we reporting on the Minnesota province of Somalia?
Rep. Ilhan Omar called out by opponent for ‘deception’
over husband’s shady dealings with winery, pot growers
By Social Links for Josh Christenson, June 6, 2024, nypost.com
Far-left Rep. Ilhan Omar’s primary opponent accused the Minnesota Democratic congresswoman Thursday of “deception” about her husband’s shady business dealings.
Don Samuels, a former member of the Minneapolis City Council who is running to unseat Omar in the 5th Congressional District, held a press conference to highlight a Minnesota Reformer report on the legal troubles of Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, related to ventures involving a California winery and South Dakota marijuana growers.
Neither of the ventures panned out — and the latter group was unable to recoup its investments in part due to funds from one of Mynett’s former companies being frozen by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
pic-—Ilhan Omar and Tim Mynett attend the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards on September 23, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Don Samuels is calling out Rep. Ilhan Omar for deceiving the public about her husband, Tim Mynett’s shady business dealings. Samuels detailed the troubling financial history to reporters — and accused Omar of failing to fully own up to assets from her husband’s businesses on congressional financial disclosures. “Representative Omar has used her time for three terms in Congress — what many would consider the opportunity and honor of a lifetime — to divide our community and enrich herself in the process,” he said.
Mynett and his business partner, Will Hailer, initially promised Washington, DC-area restaurant owner Naeem Mohd in the fall of 2021 that they would triple Mohd’s $300,000 investment into their proposed California winery, according to the Reformer report. But the venture failed in 2023.
While Mohd regained his initial investment, he later filed suit seeking $780,000 for breach of contract, since he had been promised interest for a late return.
“Representative Omar has used her time for three terms in Congress — what many would consider the opportunity and honor of a lifetime — to divide our community and enrich herself in the process,” Samuels said. Three other companies currently owned by Hailer — and previously owned by Mynett — still owe $1.2 million to investors in the cannabis venture, after having only paid back $500,000.
The entrepreneurs are now suing Hailer for the rest of the money. Mynett is named in the lawsuit, but is not a defendant.
Omar’s financial disclosures list income of between $5,001 and $15,000 in 2021 and between $15,001 and $50,000 in 2022 from an “EstVenture LLC,” one of the three companies linked to the marijuana venture.
The congresswoman reported between $65,000 and $150,000 in assets from the California winery, “estCru, LLC,” in 2021 and 2022 and up to $1,000 before it folded in 2023. The Somalia-born congresswoman also reported between $65,000 and $150,000 in assets from the California winery, “estCru, LLC,” in 2021 and 2022 and up to $1,000 before it folded in 2023.
Another one of Mynett’s ventures, Born to Run GP LLC, which he initially joined with Hailer but left in early 2022, is never listed in past disclosures — despite reportedly controlling up to $50 million in investments.
Samuels also drew attention to Omar funneling almost $3 million to Mynett’s political consulting firm during her first year in office before agreeing to no longer use its services. “It seems since that time, she has potentially found other ways to fund her own bottom line,” he noted.
“Based on the Reformer story, it looks like there’s very little money in the recorded entities that are on disclosures, and potentially millions of dollars in the underlying entities that are not exposed,” a Samuels campaign aide said at the presser.
Lester Holt and Carol Hagen-Holt are seen in the Booksellers Room of the White House in Washington DC, during the State Dinner for Kenyan President William Rutoâs official State Visit to the United States on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
Samuels called out Rep. Omar for funneling almost $3 million to her husband’s political consulting firm during her first year in office before agreeing to no longer use its services. Until 2021, Omar’s disclosures reported assets of between $100,001 and $1 million from Mynett’s firm, E Street Group.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) decided the following year that the congresswoman had not “knowingly and willfully violated” the law by “converting campaign funds to personal use” or “improperly reporting payee information.”
Samuels further noted that the congresswoman concealed her Qatari government-sponsored trip to the 2022 World Cup — and another visit the same year to Pakistan, where her food and lodging was paid for by the Islamabad government.
pic——Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a press conference alongside lawmakers and university union members on protecting the right of free speech following a crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 23, 2024.