Questions about Rep. Ilhan Omar's taxes and marriages linger after campaign finance violations

After Rep. Ilhan Omar was hit with campaign finance violations for improper use of campaign funds during her 2016 Minnesota state House campaign, some questions remain about tax returns that show her filing jointly with a man she was not married to, according to WCCO-TV.

What's this about? The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board determined that Omar illegally spent more than $3,400 in campaign funds on travel and attorney fees. She was fined $500 and ordered to repay the funds she spent.

In the process of investigating, the board discovered that in 2014 and 2015, she filed joint tax returns with Ahmed Hirsi, a man she has three children with but whom she was not legally married to until 2018.

In fact, she had actually been legally married to Ahmed Elmi since 2009. The two had gotten a faith-based, but not a legal, divorce in 2011. She did not file for a legal divorce from Elmi until 2017.

What is Omar saying about this? Omar has been mostly silent on this topic, except to deny rumors that Elmi is her brother and that she married him for immigration purposes. Elmi is a British citizen.

Omar would not provide the Associated Press with information about her siblings as the media organization attempted to investigate the marriage leading up to midterms last year.

What's also unknown is how many times Omar filed jointly with Hirsi while they weren't married. The campaign finance investigation only revealed the 2014 and 2015 returns, not the years preceding.

A spokesperson for Omar's campaign said "All of Rep. Omar's tax filings are fully compliant with all applicable tax law."

In 2016 Omar hired an attorney as a part of a "crisis committee" for the purpose of "correcting something that could have been detrimental to Ms. Omar" related to her marital, immigration, and tax issues, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

(H/T Hot Air)