House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told listeners that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is "in a lot of trouble", and confirmed the Justice Department is actively investigating her, as federal prosecutors widen their crackdown on fraud schemes rooted in the congresswoman's home state.
Comer made the remarks during the latest episode of the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast, hosted by Post columnist Miranda Devine. The Kentucky Republican praised the Trump administration's push "to prosecute people in Minnesota" and laid out a string of allegations tying Omar to earmarks he called illegitimate and to financial disclosures he called unbelievable.
Omar has vehemently denied any knowledge of or connection to the fraud scandals that have engulfed Minnesota. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the center of the story is the $250 million Feeding Our Future scam, a pandemic-era scheme that exploited loosened oversight of federal school-meal funding. Omar championed the 2020 MEALS Act, which eased requirements on those programs during COVID. That legislation, Comer and other Republicans have argued, set the stage for the massive fraud that followed.
The convicted founder of Feeding Our Future has claimed Omar knew about the scheme, a charge Omar denies.
Comer told Devine that some of the earmarks Omar requested for her district were directed toward what he called "fraudulent schemes." He described a system Republicans built after retaking Congress, community development project earmarks with guardrails to prevent waste. One item Omar submitted, Comer said, failed to clear staff review.
"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."
Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers flagged Omar for attempting to earmark more than $1 million to a Somali-led addiction recovery organization that shares an address with a Minneapolis Somali restaurant. That earmark was stripped from a broader spending package in January.
The pattern has drawn increasing attention from Minnesota lawmakers who have demanded records from Omar in connection with the Feeding Our Future probe.
Comer also zeroed in on what he called a "big question mark" in Omar's financial disclosures, a reported net worth that spiked to at least $6 million before dropping back to zero within a single year. Omar has attributed the discrepancy to a mistake.
Comer was unconvinced. He noted that the disclosure software lawmakers use requires them to verify entries multiple times before submission.
"I don't know how she would miss three extra zeros or two extra zeros on something... it's not even believable."
Comer said lawmakers must "triple" verify their figures before filing. He added bluntly: "It's hard to make a mistake."
The financial questions extend beyond Omar herself. Fox News reported that Comer has opened a separate investigation into companies linked to Omar's husband, Tim Mynett. Financial disclosures reportedly showed the value of Mynett-linked companies, eStCru LLC and Rose Lake Capital LLC, jumping from $51,000 in 2023 to as much as $30 million in 2024. In a letter to Mynett, Comer wrote: "Given that these companies do not publicly list their investors or where their money comes from, this sudden jump in values raises concerns that unknown individuals may be investing to gain influence with your wife."
The committee requested documents including audit communications, SEC correspondence, records of contact with federal agencies, and travel records involving the United Arab Emirates, Somalia, or Kenya.
Comer confirmed on the podcast that Omar is "being investigated" by the Justice Department. He praised the pace of recent enforcement, saying the DOJ "in the last month has significantly increased their activity, which is good."
The confirmation tracks with earlier statements from senior administration officials. Vice President JD Vance has publicly stated that the DOJ is investigating Omar for immigration fraud, a separate but overlapping line of scrutiny.
Comer did not specify which DOJ case or inquiry he was referencing. He also said there is "no evidence that she benefited" directly, a notable qualifier that leaves the scope and direction of the investigation uncertain. But he made clear he believes the combination of earmark irregularities, the Feeding Our Future connection, and the financial disclosure anomalies adds up to serious exposure for the Minnesota Democrat.
Republican members have not stopped at investigations. Rep. Randy Fine has moved to expel Omar from Congress over the fraud allegations, a step that underscores the political pressure building around her.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota GOP has escalated its subpoena fight to Congress after Democrats in the state moved to shield Omar from oversight.
The "Pod Force One" conversation ranged beyond Minnesota. Devine pressed Comer on the Oversight Committee's investigation into convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, and what the chairman described was a pattern of witnesses who claimed they had never been contacted by federal investigators.
"It's just baffling to me, when we bring in Jeffrey Epstein's accountant and his lawyer, that they were never interviewed by anyone in the Department of Justice, ever."
Comer said the committee also brought in Epstein's assistant, who told investigators she had never spoken with a single law enforcement official, even though her name appeared in DOJ files as a co-conspirator.
"Just things like that that make no sense to me that you wonder, was he being protected by someone? I don't know. We're trying to answer that question, but thus far I don't think we've been able to."
Comer said the committee is now shifting its focus from what he called "the rich and powerful men", who, he noted, "can't recall anything, and the names that they recall just happened to be dead", to victims and survivors. He expects those witnesses will prove far more valuable.
Several open questions hang over both tracks of Comer's work. On the Omar front, neither the specific DOJ investigation nor the particular earmarks at issue have been publicly detailed. Omar's explanation for the net worth discrepancy, that it was a filing error, has not been tested in any formal proceeding. And while Comer's committee has flagged the Mynett-linked companies, no charges or formal findings have been announced.
On Epstein, Comer acknowledged the committee has not yet been able to determine whether the convicted sex predator was protected by someone inside the government. The investigation continues.
What is clear is that the investigative and prosecutorial machinery is moving. The DOJ is ramping up in Minnesota. The Oversight Committee is pulling financial threads. And Ilhan Omar's repeated insistence that she knew nothing and did nothing wrong is being tested from multiple directions at once.
When a member of Congress sees her net worth jump by millions and drop back to zero in a single year, and her best explanation is a clerical error, the public deserves more than a shrug. They deserve answers, and it looks like the answers are finally being demanded.
