Socialist Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is much richer than when she entered Congress, and it’s more than just the $174,000-a-year congressional salary. She married her campaign strategist Tim Mynett after her campaign dumped an eye-popping $2.9 million into his consulting business during the 2020 election cycle.
When the “independent fact checkers” get involved, they sound like they’re defending the Democrats. An X post by Snopes.com declared: “A rumor circulating on social media claims Rep. Ilhan Omar's net worth skyrocketed after she took office in 2019. We reviewed her financial disclosure reports to check the facts.”
Naturally, Snopes checker Rae Deng declined to rate this officially as true, but admitted it wasn't wrong: “While somewhat factual, this claim required context.” They love acting as "context checkers." Congressional financial disclosure forms are a little inexact: “Given that we did not have a definitive idea of her exact net worth and the Facebook post did not specify whether it was referencing her individual or household net worth, we have not rated this claim.”
But Omar’s marriage to Mynett has been a definite plus. Snopes reported the majority of value from the listed assets came from her new husband’s businesses and were labeled as "Partnership Income." Omar's filing valued Mynett's winery, eSt Cru Wines, at about $1 million to $5 million. Mynett's venture capital management company, Rose Lake Capital, was valued between $5 million and $25 million.
So, yes Omar’s “net worth skyrocketed.” But Omar’s office emailed a response to Snopes calling this claim "inaccurate" and a "right-wing smear campaign." It’s not a smear. It is begging for more disclosure.
Snopes reported Omar mocked the net-worth critiques in a TikTok video posted in September, but they didn’t note she began with this: “Another day, another lying headline about millions of dollars that apparently I have.” Omar’s disclosure forms suggest there is almost no income coming in from these ventures. “Learn to read before you post misleading shit,” she concluded.
Snopes did note Omar claimed her husband’s share in his businesses was minimal. "Keep wishing millions into existence so I could pay off these student loans," was the scolding caption of her TikTok video.
But the “fact checker” didn’t note the dramatic increase in the stated worth of these companies. The value of the winery grew from up to $50,000 in 2023 to up to $5 million in Omar’s most recent financial disclosures. The value of Rose Lake Capital, seems to have exploded even more dramatically in the past two years. Omar said the firm was worth between $1 and $1,000 in 2023, and now it’s worth five to 25 million. What happened?
Recently, the names and bios of Rose Lake Capital’s nine officers were removed from LinkedIn, raising questions about why. More journalism is required, especially as the massive Somali welfare fraud in Minnesota gains national attention.
It can be a little embarrassing for a socialist to be defined as a millionaire, with Omar telling the press it is "ridiculous" and "categorically false" to say she is worth millions of dollars. But maybe she should “learn to read” before misleading the public about her family’s surge in net worth.
