Rep. Ilhan Omar was accused of being recruited by a foreign government in testimony presented in a Florida court.
The Minnesota Democrat was allegedly recruited and funded by Qatar and “passed sensitive information through intermediates to Iran,” according to a report in The Jerusalem Post which has sparked a debate about the credibility of the information.
A spokesperson for Omar, a Somali refugee and one of the first two Muslims – along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan – to be elected to Congress, slammed the “outlandishly absurd story” as false. But the testimony was reportedly given in the trial of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, a brother of the Qatari emir, who is accused of holding an American citizen hostage and ordering his bodyguard to kill two people.
The deposition by Canadian businessman Alan Bender, who was born in Kuwait, was obtained by Al Arabiya English, and authenticated by the attorney for the plaintiffs, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Bender told the Florida District Court in testimony via a video link from Toronto that he had met with two senior Qatari officials along with Mohammad bin Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Masnad, Qatar’s Secretary to the BEmir for Security Affairs.
“If it wasn’t for our cash, Ilhan Omar would be just another black Somali refugee in America collecting welfare and serving tables on weekends,” the men allegedly told him, Bender testified.
He also noted that he refused a request by the men to recruit American politicians and journalists as Qatari assets, telling the court that Omar was described as the “jewel in the crown” by the officials who also revealed that other prominent figures were already recruited.
Qatar “recruited Ilhan Omar from even way before she thought about becoming a government official… They groomed her and arranged the foundation, the grounds, for her to get into politics way before she even showed interest. They convinced her,” Bender testified.
Omar allegedly swore allegiance to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a 2017 meeting when she was serving as a junior state representative in Minnesota, Bender reportedly told the court. The congresswoman, who has been a vocal critic of Israel, also allegedly passed information to Qatar which ended up being passed on to Iran. Omar came under scrutiny last month when she became the only House Democrat to vote against imposing sanctions against Turkey.
According to the Post’s report on Bender’s testimony, Omar was “actively involved in recruiting other American politicians to likewise work for the west Asian Islamic country.”
“The best thing money can buy is American officials, because they are the cheapest of the cheapest-costing officials in the world,” the officials from Qatar reportedly told Bender.
Omar’s spokesperson blasted the report as the latest example of “misinformation and conspiracy theories” aimed at the Minnesota lawmaker who, along with Tlaib, and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, make up the group of four first-term, progressive Democratic congresswomen dubbed “The Squad.”
“Since the day she was elected, Saudi Arabian trolls and mouthpieces have targeted Omar with misinformation and conspiracy theories,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Jerusalem Post.
“The latest, outlandishly absurd story from a Saudi-funded media outlet is of course false and only the latest in that trend,” the statement continued. “The only people Rep. Omar represents in Washington are the people of Minnesota’s 5th District. She will continue to speak out against human rights violations around the world – whether it is war crimes in Yemen or the caging of children at our border – regardless of who commits them.”
Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, the self-declared “Imam of Peace,” has previously warned that Omar is an agent for Qatar and took to Twitter to announce he is “directly involved in the Ilhan-Qatar scandal as a victim of Qatar’s plots and malicious lawsuits; and my name is mentioned all over the Federal US legal deposition.”
If you’re seeing articles exposing @IlhanMN as an agent for Qatar. Remember this thread, and who made it, and how many months ahead I was.
I put my credibility on the line. Now the story is beginning to unfold.
See my pinned tweet. My name is all over the legal docs as well… https://t.co/efWZ7f11PL
— Imam of Peace (@Imamofpeace) November 25, 2019
As speculation abounded on Twitter about whether the report, which was apparently not being reported by the major media, was even credible, the imam continued to post messages, including his claim that the Qatari government hired a lawyer to “demand that Twitter delete my tweets and suspend me for exposing their dirty deals in Congress and the mainstream media.”
The Clarion Project, which describes itself as “a non-profit organization that educates the public about the dangers of radical Islam and other extremist ideologies,” dug into the many parts of the spreading story and determined that the evidence against Omar, in this case, is “flimsy.”
Others, like foreign policy and national security reporter Jordan Schachtel, threw cold water on the quickly spreading story about Omar, who was recently found guilty by the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board of breaking campaign finance rules.
Bad faith actors continue to spread false information about Ilhan Omar being run by Qatar. It is 100% nonsense. Both she and Qatar have committed many misdeeds. The Qatar-Omar thing is dumb and it hurts real investigative reporting on the two entities. https://t.co/W1VdC9LLbS
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) November 26, 2019
He took direct aim at the imam and called the reports part of “information wars.”
In this particular incident, the deposition being cited comes from a guy who was recruited to spread a bunch of bs disinformation. His deposition is one baseless conspiracy after another. This op is so dumb that it ends up helping the accused parties. Welcome to MidEast info ops.
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) November 26, 2019
I received this oppo over a year ago and investigated it. There’s nothing there. It’s part of the information wars between Qatar and its gulf adversaries. Don’t fall for this stupidity please.
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) November 26, 2019
Clarion National Correspondent Shireen Qudosi, who has pointed out many offenses by Omar, shut down the “unsubstantiated” claims being reported on the Qatar connection.
“In working to source and verify this story today, I’m proud to see colleagues in the counter-Islamist circuit — all critical of Ilhan Omar for well-documented reasons — unanimously shut down attempts to fan this story.” – @ShireenQudosi https://t.co/rbzfje3jEn
— Clarion Project (@clarionproject) November 26, 2019
Despite vehement opposition to the claims Omar works as a foreign asset, many of her critics are demanding an investigation. Considering the many scandals she’s racked up in her short political career, it’s unsurprising there’s a call for more information.
This may or may not turn out to be true, but if Dems are genuinely concerned about foreign entities "grooming assets" like Tulsi Gabbard, shouldn't they be demanding an investigation into Omar? #2020election #IlhanOmar https://t.co/2cagtNMTut
— The Cain Gang (@THEHermanCain) November 26, 2019
A New Sworn Testimony alleges that “Ilhan Omar the crown jewel among US politicians recruited by Qatar.” and claims that the Congresswoman is a foreign agent on a Qatari payroll.
These allegations are serious and they deserve to be investigated.https://t.co/QXg25cyqGv
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 26, 2019
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
- ‘Are we next?!’ Kilmeade breaks down shady FBI actions, concludes Trump justified in his outrage - August 30, 2022
- Grandfather throws down with aggressive kangaroo that attacked his dogs, but who really won? - June 4, 2022
- ‘My name is Dr. Robinson’: Proud abortionist snaps at Chip Roy calling her ‘Miss’ during hearing - May 19, 2022
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
