A House Republican investigation into Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has been launched after newly filed financial disclosures showed her family’s reported wealth exploding to more than $30 million in a single year.
The House Oversight Committee, led by Chairman James Comer, is examining how the ‘Squad’ lawmaker and her husband rapidly amassed millions – at a time that a $9 billion Somali social services fraud scandal also exploded in her state.
Investigators are openly weighing subpoenas as they probe whether politically connected businesses tied to Omar’s family warrant deeper scrutiny, House Republicans said.
The investigation follows federal prosecutors opening a broader investigation into alleged industrial-scale fraud involving billions of dollars in social service funds in Minnesota.
Republicans say that scandal alone makes Omar’s apparent financial windfall impossible to ignore.
‘We’re going to get answers, whether it’s through the Ethics Committee or the Oversight Committee, one of the two,’ Comer said to the New York Post.
The scrutiny intensified after Omar’s 2024 financial disclosure revealed her family’s net worth ballooned, jumping from negligible assets to a valuation that could reach as high as $30 million in a single year, according to the ranges reported on the form.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is under scrutiny after her 2024 financial disclosure showed her family’s reported net worth jumping to as much as $30 million in one year
Two businesses linked to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, pictured here in a post from February 2024, showed dramatic valuation spikes between 2023 and 2024
House Oversight Committee Chairman, Republican James Comer is examining the source of the sudden wealth increase
In a video she posted to Instagram this week, the congresswoman scoffed at questions about whether she was connected to the fraud scandal emerging in her state this month.
‘Why would there be an allegation that I’m complicit? How would I be complicit?’ Omar snapped at a reporter.
When pressed further, she lashed out: ‘Do you just ask stupid questions?’
‘Nine billion, really?’ Omar said sarcastically referencing the reported level of the alleged fraud. ‘That is more than half of the resources that are allocated. So, you genuinely think 0 your brain has told you that it is possible for half of the resources for our public service to have disappeared? Listen to yourself.’
When the reporter cited Comer’s concerns during a House Oversight hearing, Omar doubled down.
‘That’s what Comer believes because he’s as smart as you are,’ she said. ‘There’s absolutely no goddam way.’
Omar has forcefully rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing. She has never been charged or formally accused of a crime in relation to the alleged Minnesota fraud scandal nor her husband’s soaring net worth.
The congresswoman was particularly curt to a reporter who was asking her questions about whether she was connected to the fraud scandal that is emerging
Omar listed Rose Lake Capital LLC as one of her assets on her most recent financial disclosure form. The company is operated by her husband Tim Mynett (pictured)
Two companies tied to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, showed extraordinary gains in recent years.
A venture capital firm, Rose Lake Capital, was listed in 2023 as being worth between $1 and $1,000.
Just one year later, Omar’s disclosure placed its value between $5 million and $25 million.
A second company, a California winery known as ESTCRU, jumped from a valuation topping out at $50,000 to as much as $5 million over the same period.
Comer said that in his opinion, the math simply does not add up. ‘There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years,’ he said to The Post. ‘It’s not possible. It’s not.’
Republican investigators say their concerns are compounded by what they describe as unusual business characteristics.
Court records from a lawsuit involving a related entity show Rose Lake Capital had just $42.44 in its bank account late in 2022. Yet within roughly a year, the firm was being reported as worth tens of millions of dollars.
Sources familiar with the inquiry say associates raised concerns to federal investigators after becoming unsettled by the firm’s rapid rise, its alleged lack of a public investment track record, and shifting disclosures about who was involved.
Mynett is the president and co-founder of Rose Lake Capital. The company’s asset value increased from between $1 and $1,000 to between $5 million and $25 million in just one year
Omar’s financial disclosure form from 2024 lists Rose Lake Capital’s value of a maximum of $25 million
Omar also listed ESTCRU LLC as an asset on her financial disclosure form. The winery was valued at a maximum of $50,000 in 2023 and $5 million in 2024
Omar didn’t list any assets or unearned income on her financial disclosure form in 2018
Rose Lake Capital’s LinkedIn page appears to have been taken down amid growing scrutiny over the company’s assets
The company’s public footprint has also changed. Its website once listed prominent political and diplomatic figures as advisers, but those names have since disappeared.
Former Senator Max Baucus confirmed he had only limited contact with one of the firm’s partners in 2022 and said nothing materialized from those discussions.
Other former advisers have likewise said they had no financial stake and only brief or preliminary involvement.
Wall Street sources reportedly told investigators they had never heard of Rose Lake Capital, despite online claims that its officers had previously managed tens of billions of dollars in assets – an assertion that raised further questions about whether the firm should be registered with federal regulators.
The investigation has unfolded against the backdrop of a sweeping fraud case in Minnesota involving social service programs – a case federal prosecutors have described as industrial in scale.
Assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson said during a news conference in December that investigators uncovered what they believe to be billions of dollars siphoned over nearly a decade.
‘What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes,’ Thompson said. ‘It’s a staggering industrial-scale fraud.’
Tim Mynett and Ilhan Omar and their blended family in a photo posted by Mynett on his X feed in August 2024, with caption: ‘Ilhan is a wonderful mother to our blended family. She shares her big heart (and delicious Somali cooking) every chance she gets – guiding our children with the awe-inspiring wisdom that comes from her journey’
Rose Lake Capital was listed as worth between $1 and $1,000 in 2023 and up to $25 million a year later. A second company, ESTCRU, increased in reported value from under $50,000 to as much as $5 million
Mynett’s venture capital firm Rose Lake Capital LLC’s assets were valued at between $5 million to $25 million in the 2024 disclosure
His Santa Rosa winery eStCru had assets worth between $1 million to $5 million, despite the company having to settle a lawsuit
Omar told her social media followers last February to ‘try checking public financial statements and you will see I barely have thousands, let alone millions’
Rep. Comer put it bluntly, accusing Omar and her husband of raking in millions ‘while Minnesotans have been getting fleeced.’
Omar has forcefully rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing. She has never been charged or formally accused of a crime in relation to her husband’s soaring net worth.
No criminal charges have been filed against Omar or her husband, but Republicans say the investigation is ongoing and expanding
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said the alleged fraud involved billions of dollars over nearly a decade
This is Ilhan Omar’s home in Washington D.C with her Minnesota plate car outside
Conservative watchdog groups have confirmed they are reviewing the filings, while Republicans say the matter could end up before the House Ethics Committee if Oversight findings warrant it.
Omar has previously faced scrutiny over campaign finance questions and business ties involving Mynett, who advised her congressional campaign before the two married in 2020.
She has consistently denied any impropriety and has said their relationship began after professional work concluded.
No charges have been filed against Omar or her husband.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Rep. Omar for additional comment.
