James Comer tells Pod Force One Ilhan Omar in a lot of trouble amid fraud crackdown

Rep.Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) could be “in a lot of trouble” for allegedly steering taxpayer money toward “fraudulent schemes,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in the latest episode of “Pod Force One.”   The Kentucky Republican lauded the Trump administration’s latest efforts “to prosecute people in Minnesota” for alleged fraud and making an example out of “that Somali crime ring up there,” before suggesting Omar could eventually be a target of the crackdown. “I do think Ilhan Omar is in a lot of trouble,” Comer told “Pod Force One” host Miranda Devine.  “You got a situation there where you look at some of the earmarks she requested for her district were for some of those fraudulent schemes,” he added. It’s unclear which earmarks Comer was referring to. In the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandals, Omar has drawn scrutiny for championing the 2020 MEALS Act, which eased oversight of school-meal requirements during the pandemic and set the stage for the $250 million Feeding Our Future scam. She was also called out by Republican lawmakers earlier this year for attempting to earmark more than $1 million to a Somali-led addiction recovery organization that shares an address with a Minneapolis Somali restaurant.

The earmark was removed from a broader spending package in January. “When the Republicans took over Congress, they put these community development projects [earmarks] back in, but we put guardrails on them, so there wouldn’t be bridges to nowhere, and the LGBTQ museums, and all the crazy stuff that the left-wing liberals want.And one of the things that she submitted, they caught on the staff, and it wasn’t a legitimate project,” Comer continued. Omar has vehemently denied any knowledge or connection to the rampant fraud plaguing the North Star State, and Comer noted there is “no evidence that she benefited” financially from the schemes. Omar’s office did not immediately respond t...