Rep. Ilhan Omar’s husband, Ahmed Hirsi, is reportedly seeking a divorce from the congresswoman after learning she allegedly had an affair with DC Democratic political consultant Tim Mynett, according to the New York Post.
The turmoil started after Dr. Beth Mynett reportedly claimed in divorce filings that her husband said he was cheating on her with the congresswoman and made a “shocking declaration of love” for Omar.
The Minnesota congresswoman is said to have originally asked Hirsi to divorce her after their alleged separation in March, but he refused. But as Ebony Bowden of the Post writes, he “changed his mind”:
The husband allegedly changed his mind after Tim Mynett’s wife last week filed bombshell divorce papers claiming her spouse was having an affair with the Somali-born US representative — with Hirsi said to be angry he had been made to look the fool by the allegations of an extramarital affair.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t filed already,” the source [a longtime friend of the couple] told The Post, adding that Hirsi was “very confused” in the wake of the bombshell allegations but still loved his wife and was reluctant to expose their three children to a public divorce battle.
Omar and Hirsi were reportedly engaged in 2002 but never legally married, “instead, they wed in a traditional Muslim ceremony and had two children before splitting up in 2008.”
The couple resumed a relationship in 2012 after Omar married and then split up with Ahmed Nur Said Elmi (reportedly her brother), the Post reported.
The Post wrapped up saying:
The congresswoman has refused to comment on both the affair allegations and the discrepancies in her marriages — dodging questions from a Post reporter at an event in Minneapolis last week.
Tim Mynett and his E. Street Group received about $230,000 from Omar’s campaign for travel expenses, fundraising consulting, communications and more — a possible ethics violation.
Mynett denied the bombshell affair allegations in a counterclaim filed in DC Superior Court — accusing his wife of waging a campaign to “ruin his career” after he left their unhappy marriage.