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Baseless, Degrading, Unverified, and Quite Possibly True
A reporter asked President Trump, “if the administration was looking into possible immigration fraud committed by Ilhan Omar for possibly marrying her brother.”
Trump replied, “Well, there’s a lot of talk about the fact that she was married to her brother. I know nothing about it, I hear she was married to her brother. You’re asking me a question about it. I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s somebody who will be looking at that.”
This rumor has been around for a while and one would think it is something that would be easy to disprove if false. You could show pictures of your brother and husband, marriage records showing different names, etc., but we have not seen much effort by the press to clarify this. Reaction to the fact that Trump even acknowledged this reporter’s question look like this:
Saying it is “baseless” is nice, but did anyone actually do any investigation on this? It looks like some people did and it is not some simple political attack. I do not know all the facts, but the guys at Powerline have been looking into this for some time now. This article shows lots of reasons to be suspicious. Too much for me to summarize but check out the whole article on Powerline. Whatever the truth is, this does not appear to be a baseless conspiracy theory . . . or does it?
Here’s why I think this was tied to this frivolous ‘married her brother’ accusation.
The people who want Ilhan Omar to publicly explain filing joint tax returns are at the same people busily ignoring Trump’s refusal to explain his taxes to the public, or poohpoohing its relevance.
When you focus down on the substantive stuff, the double standard is pretty clear.
And double standards (by anybody) don’t win the culture, in fact double standards were what lost the culture last time round.
Amirite?
Whatabouttery doesn’t address that.
I’m less concerned about her taxes than I am about her hatred of Jews.
I see what you did there :-)
I don’t think so. First of all, I think “whatabouttery” is useful. I find it so.
I ask myself: If Ilhan Omar was a Republican, would I think this story warranted further scrutiny? And I’ll even admit that I’d probably hesitate…or try to come up with explanations and excuses just as you did. And you would meanwhile be making the same arguments I’ve made (more or less) and —the point of discussion and debate—we might get smarter in the process. One reason I appreciate you being here at Ricochet, Zafar!
Having said that, there is no “undisputed instance” of Trump “filing his taxes improperly.” Nor can we see a continuing and apparently indefatigable fishing expedition being undertaken in the hopes of finding something—anything—to support removing Ilhan Omar from office…as there is for the president.
Trump has been in the public eye for a very, very long time—we know his story, and reporters can and have gained access to all sorts of people eager to talk about him. Including, by the way, former spouses. Since before he was president, he has been subjected to intensive investigations by, among other entities, the FBI.
Trump was already president when Ilhan Omar divorced her legal husband Ahmad Elmi in absentia, attesting under penalty of perjury that she had no idea where he was or how to get hold of him. If, in fact, she did know where he was and was in touch with him via social media—which appears to be the case—-then she committed felonies within the past few years, not in some long-ago time or place where different standards obtained.
That seems somewhat important. Given that she is a politician.
Did you read the Powerline article? They do lay out their circumstantial evidence for why they believe that Ahmad Elmi was Omar’s brother. But, again, it’s not salacious and I don’t think it’s frivolous. Again, I don’t think anyone is claiming the marriage was consummated. Indeed, it would appear that at one point, Ilhan and her “husband” were living at the same address with her other “husband.” How would you explain that? Polyamory?
Yes. And her apparent disdain for the United States and—it would seem—the laws thereof.
She’s pretty, though. That seems to count for a lot.
I guess I don’t. What did I allegedly do.
She can’t run for president.
Hating Jews won’t get her arrested or deported.
Committing multiple felonies could.
I don’t know, Zafar. Apparently there is some evidence that Omar filed a fraudulent tax return. As far as I know, there have been no allegations that Trump has committed any tax fraud. The people who want to see Trump’s returns are on a fishing expedition, nothing more.
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/06/10/ilhan-omar-personal-tax-returns-controversy/
From which:
“Rep. Ilhan Omar finds herself at the center of controversy about her personal tax returns.
“The Campaign Finance Board discovered she filed tax returns stating she was married to one man when, in fact, she was married to another. The revelation was a part of an investigation into allegations that Omar had misused campaign funds.
“Omar agreed to repay $3,500 and pay a $500 fine, but the controversy over her tax filings continues.
“…There can be a whole host of reasons you would file an amended tax return – a correction to your tax return, incorrect filing status, claimed the wrong exemptions, didn’t report all of your income…”
/////
Somehow the “married her brother” hook is no longer front and centre.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/policy/criminal-justice/why-hasnt-new-york-charged-donald-trump-with-tax-fraud.html
From which:
“Last fall, the Times characterized some of the president’s actions as “outright fraud,” raising the question of why New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance haven’t charged the president with anything related to the revelations.”
///
??
You need to take anything the Times says about Trump with a grain of salt.
FIFY.
Well, and here’s the thing: The New York Times (or whomever) says “Trump’s Tax Return is Fraudulent! Why hasn’t he been charged?”
Do they have proof? Should Trump be charged with a crime on the say-so of the New York Times? Or are we, again, talking about evidence (or a strong, not-unbiased suspicion) that calls for further investigation?
“Justice” doesn’t mean (or shouldn’t, anyway) you get the result you want (“Impeach!” or “Send Her Back!”) It means the process is reasonably fair and the law is applied to everyone. Given the strong feeling on the part of many Americans that the process and laws have not been applied fairly—that is, that liberal politicians, especially those “of color,” get a pass while conservatives get pilloried—this seems to me like an excellent opportunity for the left to demonstrate its impartiality. They are already so very, very sure that Ilhan has done nothing wrong that surely they should take the minimum steps necessary to prove it to any fair-minded American. [EDIT: just think of the egg on the faces of the haters!] Wouldn’t have to be a full-blown, multi-million dollar, years-long investigation. Sounds like a few documents and maybe a DNA test would do the trick.
I wonder how many times in the last 20 years Trump’s returns have been audited. The IRS isn’t likely to let tax fraud go unpunished.
Well, and how many accountants and whatnot go over his taxes before the returns are sent in? It’s not as if he does his own taxes.
To which Zafar might retort: Well, and maybe Ilhan went to H & R Block! Maybe whatever is wrong is her accountant’s fault?
All she’s got to do is say so. Easy peezie.
From the Powerline essay: “The answers to those questions about 2009 appear to give probable cause to investigate Omar for eight instances of perjury, immigration fraud, marriage fraud, up to eight years of state and federal tax fraud, two years of federal student loan fraud, and even bigamy.
To be clear: The facts describe perhaps the most extensive spree of illegal misconduct committed by a House member in American history.” (My emphasis).
Sounds very balanced.
Have you evidence to the contrary?
I don’t – but I guess the point is you would have more traction with the persuadables who have a vote if you were consistent. So would the other side. Right now it looks like a politically driven thing rather than a rule if law thing. From the outside.
“The facts describe perhaps the most extensive spree of illegal misconduct…”
What’s unbalanced? He’s explaining why the questions appear to give probable cause to investigate Omar. That doesn’t seem unbalanced to me.
I wonder which investigations of be-Turbaned Progressive MOCs you’re okay with?
Update: (my emphasis)
“Given everything we now know, the sham nature of Omar’s 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is beyond a reasonable doubt. Omar married Mr. Elmi for some dishonest and perhaps illegal purpose, and has lied about it ever since. At this point, whether he is her brother is relatively insignificant.“
Why is it beyond reasonable doubt?
Honest question. I read the same stuff you did and saw a bunch of undated Instagram pictures, showing people who did not look obviously alike, some ‘I congratulate sister Ilhan’ type comments and a shared college home address (which is not uncommon for students at a university).
You saw something else. What was that?
I am not accusing you of malice or dishonesty, I’m truly interested in what you saw when you looked at the same data I did.
Well well well.
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it hand-delivered ethics complaint to Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics David Skaggs calling for a full investigation into potential crimes tied to allegations that Rep. Ilhan Omar may have married her biological brother.
“The evidence is overwhelming Rep. Omar may have violated the law and House rules. The House of Representatives must urgently investigate and resolve the serious allegations of wrongdoing by Rep. Omar,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “We encourage Americans to share their views on Rep. Omar’s apparent misconduct with their congressmen.”