Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) told a Minnesota lawmaker to file his own congressional ethics complaint against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after he asked her to seek an investigation in 2019, according to newly surfaced correspondence reported by Slay News.
Then-state Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-MN) contacted Craig in 2019 after Minnesota’s campaign finance board found that Omar had improperly used campaign money for personal tax-related services and travel. Craig replied two days later with information on how members of the public could submit allegations to the Office of Congressional Ethics. Drazkowski went on to file his own complaint and later took his concerns to the FBI, saying his efforts never produced a substantive response.
The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board issued its findings on June 6, 2019, after two complaints from Drazkowski. The board found that Omar improperly used $1,500 in campaign funds to pay for personal tax-related services tied to joint returns she filed with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi in 2014 and 2015, years in which the two were not legally married. The board also required Omar to repay campaign funds used for travel to Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.
According to the article, Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in February 2009, and their divorce proceedings concluded in December 2017. In a divorce filing, Omar stated she had not been in contact with Elmi since 2011, but the article claims since-deleted photos and social media posts by Omar and Elmi suggest otherwise. It cites AlphaNewsMN reporting on a June 12, 2012, Instagram photo posted by Elmi the day after Omar gave birth to her third child, showing him holding the newborn and calling the baby girl his “niece” in the caption.
Drazkowski said he first sought an investigation after noticing that Omar had not filed a required statement of economic interest. The board confirmed she submitted the statement after learning his complaint had triggered an investigation.
In his letter, Drazkowski asked Craig to forward his material and pursue a House ethics investigation. “Representative Craig, I am your constituent,” he wrote, formally requesting that she “open an ethics investigation” into Omar’s actions leading up to the 2018 election.
Craig’s response explained the role of the ethics office rather than announcing a referral. She described the OCE as the “independent, non-partisan entity” responsible for reviewing allegations of misconduct against House members and staff and referring matters to the House Committee on Ethics when appropriate. “The OCE accepts and reviews information concerning allegations within its jurisdiction from members of the public,” her letter said, adding that members of Congress can also submit information.
Drazkowski then filed his own request with the House Ethics Committee and shared it with the OCE. “No one is above the law, and our elected officials must always be held accountable,” his complaint stated.
On Friday, Drazkowski said he struggled to get a substantive response from either the congressional ethics process or Craig’s office, so he brought his allegations to the FBI’s Minneapolis office. “I went to the FBI and unloaded all the information I had to them,” he said, adding that federal investigators also gave him no meaningful response.
