FORMER MINNESOTA DEMOCRAT BREAKS RANKS AND SAYS ILHAN OMAR MARRIAGE FRAUD ALLEGATION IS ALMOST CERTAINLY TRUE
A longtime Minnesota Democratic operative and former state lawmaker has publicly confirmed what critics have argued for years about Rep. Ilhan Omar. Joe Radinovich, who previously served in the Minnesota House, managed Jacob Frey’s mayoral campaign, and worked as Frey’s chief of staff, took to X to warn his own party to stop dismissing the claims as a conspiracy.
Radinovich stated: “Democrats should understand that the allegation is almost certainly true—whatever conclusion they draw from that point could vary—and her denials calling it a right-wing, Islamophobic or racist conspiracy are almost certainly not.”
He doubled down when challenged, writing: “You’re right. I’m not stupid. I believe the Trump DOJ has next to no credibility and that it’s unclear to me the timing of the raid was appropriate—though it’s notable a DC judge signed off on it—but I’m pretty confident this specific allegation is true.”
Radinovich added that believing Omar’s denials at this point requires ignoring the record: “Vibes is what it would take to believe her at this point. There’s plenty of evidence and sourcing available if you don’t dismiss it out of hand.”
The comments come as federal investigators reexamine Omar’s 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a British citizen long alleged to be her brother. The probe originally began under the Obama administration in 2016, when the FBI and Department of Homeland Security found some evidence the marriage was fraudulent. It was later closed under Biden before being reopened amid fresh scrutiny, including a recent search of Omar’s Washington residence.
Radinovich also cautioned Democrats on a separate front involving her finances. He wrote: “And then I’d be very, very careful about how I qualified on allegations around her finances—where her defense looks similar and where no meaningful questions have been answered publicly, and where any objective look at the evidence doesn’t look…great.”
Omar’s office has rejected the statements as false and described Radinovich as having an “irrational obsession.” No charges have been filed, but the public admission from a Democratic insider who has spent years in Minnesota politics has undercut the longstanding claim that the allegations exist only as partisan attacks.