Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is facing renewed scrutiny after a conservative watchdog group confirmed it is reviewing her finances amid public outrage over a massive federal aid fraud scandal in Minnesota and questions surrounding her rapid rise in personal wealth.
Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), told The Post that the organization is “certainly looking” at Omar’s financial disclosures. The review comes days after reports that her husband’s venture capital firm quietly removed key officer information from public profiles as questions mounted about the congresswoman’s sudden increase in net worth.
According to Omar’s most recent financial disclosures, her net worth rose to approximately $30 million within about a year, representing an estimated 3,500% increase compared with 2023. The increase is largely attributed to the business interests of her husband, Tim Mynett, including a California winery and Rose Lake Capital, a venture capital management firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Financial filings show that Rose Lake Capital’s estimated value climbed from nearly zero in 2023 to between $5 million and $25 million within a year. The firm had also publicly claimed that its officers previously managed about $60 billion in assets, though the names and biographies of nine officers were recently removed from its LinkedIn page, raising further questions among critics.
Mynett’s winery business, which has faced fraud allegations in the past, also saw its estimated value rise sharply in 2024, from about $1 million to as much as $5 million, according to the disclosures.
The scrutiny of Omar’s finances is unfolding against the backdrop of the Feeding Our Future case, one of the largest pandemic-era fraud scandals in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors allege that hundreds of millions of dollars meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic were stolen through a network of nonprofits and vendors in Minnesota.
Omar has previously addressed the broader scandal, attributing it to weaknesses in emergency pandemic programs rather than individual lawmakers. Speaking to CNN earlier this month, she said the rapid rollout of COVID-19 relief left insufficient safeguards in place.
“A lot of the COVID programs were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created,” she said.
Nevertheless, conservative lawmakers and activists have called for expanded investigations into both Omar and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), arguing that state leadership failed to prevent widespread fraud.
“On Walz’s watch, Minnesota became a fraud factory, aided and defended by allies like Ilhan Omar,” Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) wrote on X. “Investigate everything. Prosecute everyone involved.”
Neither Omar nor her husband has been charged with wrongdoing related to the Feeding Our Future case, and no formal findings have been announced regarding the NLPC’s review.
However, the developments signal growing legal and political pressure as investigators, watchdogs and lawmakers continue to examine Minnesota’s handling of pandemic relief funds and the financial dealings of prominent public officials.
