It was reported by the New York Post in August that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) had been accused of having an affair with a political consultant to her campaign named Tim Mynett. That accusation was leveled by the consultant’s estranged wife, Dr. Beth Mynett, in divorce papers that were filed in court.
Now, it has been revealed in federal filings that Omar’s campaign has continued to pay Mynett’s consulting firm a substantial sum of money even since the allegations were made, with nearly a third of all of her campaign expenditures going to his E Street Group firm during the third quarter of the fiscal year, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Following the money
The Free Beacon reported that approximately 30% of all money spent by Omar’s campaign in the third quarter was for advertising, communications, digital fundraising, and travel expenses incurred for services provided by Mynett’s E Street Group LLC.
According to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Omar’s campaign brought in $1,084,098.84 during the third quarter — from July 1 to Sept. 30 — and spent $493,389.80 over the same time period.
The filings also showed that roughly 30% of the nearly $500,000 spent — or $149,812.64 — went to Mynett’s firm.
Suspicious timing
Incredibly, the Free Beacon noted that the nearly $150,000 paid to Mynett’s firm over the third quarter was almost equal to the total that had been paid to his firm over the first and second quarters combined.
Omar’s campaign had disbursed approximately $166,000 to E Street Group over the first six months of the year. The disbursements over the next three months nearly matched that.
The timing of the dramatic increase in campaign disbursements over the third quarter is quite interesting, particularly since heavy campaigning for 2020 won’t begin for her for several months.
Moreover, though the allegations of an affair between Omar and Mynett were not made public until August — in the middle of the third quarter — the divorce papers alleging the affair had actually been filed in the court in April, midway through the second quarter.
Mynett’s estranged wife alleged in the divorce papers that her husband had admitted to her that he was having a romantic affair with the congresswoman and would be leaving her to spend more time with his new companion. She also suggested that at least some of the campaign funds disbursed to Mynett’s firm, particularly for travel expenses, had been related to the affair and had nothing to do with his consulting work.
No comment from Omar
It is worth noting that Mynett has strenuously denied having an affair with Omar when pressed, and the congresswoman has deftly dodged answering any questions in that regard on the handful of occasions that she’s actually been asked.
Omar’s office did not respond to a request from the Free Beacon for comment on the matter.