A political consulting group co-owned by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s husband received nearly $635,000 in coronavirus funds, public records show.
Tim Mynett’s E Street Group LLC was given $134,800 this year as part of the Paycheck Protection Program; he was also given $500,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Omar (D-Minn.) and Mynett married in March, and just weeks after they tied the knot, his consulting firm was paid $189,000 by Omar’s campaign, The Post reported in July.
Mynett was allegedly Omar’s lover until their affair was exposed last year, while the two were still married to other people.
Federal Election Commission records show that the progressive lawmaker additionally funneled nearly $2.8 million to her future husband’s firm from early 2019 to July 22, 2020.
Omar’s team also sent $1.6 million to the E Street Group for the third quarter, sending along an additional $27,000 in the weeks that followed.
The FEC allows lawmakers to hire family members or spouses to work on their campaigns, but political ethics experts have said the practice creates suspicion.
Omar has denied any wrongdoing regarding her relationship with her husband when ethics questions were raised about payments to his firm earlier this year.
“We consulted with a top FEC campaign attorney to ensure there were no possible legal issues with our relationship,” she said in a Twitter post in March, just days after she and Mynett wed. “We were told this is not uncommon and that no, there weren’t.”
Omar cut professional ties with Mynett in mid-November while still denying any wrongdoing, according to Fox News. The announcement, which came in the form of an email to supporters, was aimed at ending speculation about their work.
Before cutting ties, however, she was by far the E Street Group’s biggest client, according to Open Secrets data, with nearly one in every three of her campaign dollars going to her alleged then-lover’s firm as of last August, according to the Washington Examiner.
A spokesperson for Omar did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
With Post wires