Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar has made her initial public statement following a federal investigation that included a search of her Washington, D.C. residence. In her latest interview, the Minnesota Democratic legislator responded to persistent allegations concerning her previous marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, who is working as a political science researcher at the University of Bristol’s School of Sociology.
Omar has consistently refuted claims that she married Elmi, whom detractors have asserted was her sibling, for the purpose of perpetrating immigration fraud. To date, no publicly accessible documentation has substantiated that the two people are related by blood.
Ilhan Omar rejects claim that she married her brother
During an appearance on MS NOW, host Chris Hayes posed a question to Omar regarding any familial connection between herself and Elmi. Omar, as per the New York Post, stated, “Not to my knowledge.”
Omar then described the broader allegation “insane,” attributing the claim’s origin to a Somali blog that was subsequently amplified by critics.
Here’s what we know about Ilhan Omar’s former husband
Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a British national who was married to Omar from 2009 to 2017, presently holds a position as a doctoral researcher within the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol.
Additionally, he held positions as a visiting scholar at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and as an affiliate researcher at the British Institute in Eastern Africa located in Kenya.
The 41-year-old scholar’s academic work concentrates on violence targeting queer people in Kenya, alongside examining the interconnections between sexuality, political systems, and institutional exclusion, as per his University of Bristol faculty profile.
“He is currently completing his doctoral thesis, provisionally titled: ‘Bravery Amidst Brutality: A Queer Resistance to Violence and Criminalization in Contemporary Kenya,’” the bio states.
In his capacity as a graduate instructor at the university, Elmi has previously facilitated undergraduate seminars addressing political theory and contemporary international politics. His scholarly interests encompass political party systems throughout the African continent, informed by substantial prior research conducted with both the Political Parties Database Project and the Political Parties in Africa Project, as documented in his institutional biography.
According to his biographical profile, Elmi was awarded a comprehensive doctoral scholarship in 2022 by the United Kingdom’s Economic and Social Research Council. His biography makes no reference to Omar, 44.
Ilhan Omar’s other two marriages
In 2018, Omar got married to Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi. The couple, who share three children, dissolved their marriage one year thereafter.
She later married her third spouse, Tim Mynett, a political consultant and businessman, in March 2020. Mynett completed his undergraduate education at the University at Albany in 2003, obtaining a degree in political science, and currently wroks as a political consultant.