Democratic Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar’s marriage history has returned to the spotlight amid a federal investigation into her immigration records.
The latest updates have prompted questions about an unusual period in which her personal relationship with Ahmed Abdisalan Hirisi overlapped with her legal marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
Renewed scrutiny follows an October 12 search of Omar’s Washington home by federal agents. A subsequent court filing concerning efforts to keep search-warrant materials sealed referred to the congresswoman as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar."
President Donald Trump called on Omar to resign on Thursday over the name discrepancy. "She used a fake name to be sworn in. I assume she must immediately have to resign from Congress," the president told supporters in Iowa.
The filing has also revived a longstanding allegation that Elmi, whom Omar legally married in 2009, was her brother and that the marriage was connected to immigration fraud.
Omar has repeatedly denied the allegation. The marriage chronology, tax discrepancy and use of the Elmi name in the latest filing do not themselves establish that the two were siblings or that the marriage was fraudulent.
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Omar has denounced the Department of Justice (DOJ) federal immigration probe as partisan politics, calling the DOJ "corrupt."
Newsweek reached out to the office of Rep. Omar via email for comment.
Ilhan Omar’s Marriage History: a Timeline
Omar’s relationship history begins in 2002 when the Democrat has said she and Ahmed Abdisalan Hirisi sought a marriage license but did not complete a legal marriage. Instead, they married in their Muslim faith tradition.
Omar and Hirisi had two children together, but, in 2008, according to Omar, the couple separated and ended their relationship within their faith tradition.
In February 2009, Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Marriage records show the pair were married in Hennepin County on February 12, 2009.
Omar said that her relationship with Elmi ended in 2011 when the pair separated in the eyes of their faith, but did not obtain a civil divorce.
The following year in 2012, Omar reconciled with Hirisi, and the couple had their third child. That created an unusual distinction between Omar’s personal and civil marital status as she had resumed her relationship with Hirisi while still legally married to Elmi.
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In 2014-2015, Omar and Hirisi filed joint federal tax returns, despite not being legally married to each other and while Omar remained legally married to Elmi.
The tax filings later emerged during an investigation by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The board’s final report said there was "an issue with her tax returns that needed to be corrected." Minnesota does not recognize common-law marriage, and filing jointly with someone who is not a legal spouse is contrary to federal and state tax law.
Omar’s campaign subsequently said all of her tax filings were "fully compliant with all applicable tax law."
In December 2017, Omar and Elmi’s legal civil divorce was completed, and, in January 2018, Omar legally married Hirisi.
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The marriage occurred after the civil divorce from Elmi, so the public records do not show Omar legally married to the two men simultaneously.
In 2019, Omar filed for divorce from Hirisi, citing an "irretrievable breakdown" of the marriage, and that it was dissolved when paperwork was finalized in November 2019.
Omar announced that she had married political consultant Tim Mynett in March 2020. Official documents show that the couple married on March 16, 2020 in Washington, D.C., with both parties listed as divorced.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and James Debens