Emmer calls for ethics investigation into Omar after Somalia comments

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer has called on the House Committee on Ethics to probe Rep. Ilhan Omar after her remarks about Somalia earlier this week.

Mr. Emmer cited a video that went viral of Ms. Omar speaking at a convention in Minneapolis about her support for Somalia, in his letter to Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, Mississippi Republican and Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the panel’s ranking Democrat.

The Minnesota Republican said Ms. Omar, a member of Congress’ far-left “Squad,” delivered “shocking remarks expressing allegiance to the interests of Somalia.” He has also joined the call for her to resign.

Mr. Emmer said in the letter that even though he holds the First Amendment right to free speech “in the highest regard,” her comments “suggest a disregard for her oath of office in the manner that is unbecoming of an American elected official, reflect poorly on the United States House of Representatives and is a slap in the face to the Minnesotans she represents.”

“Ilhan Omar’s appalling, Somalia-first comments are a slap in the face to the Minnesotans she was elected to serve and a direct violation of her oath of office. She should resign in disgrace,” he wrote on X Monday.

Ms. Omar, in response, said that the video was “not only slanted but completely off” and the “attacks” against her “are not only completely false, they are rooted in xenophobia and Islamophobia.”

“This is a manufactured controversy based on an inaccurate translation taken entirely out of context,” she said in a statement. “I am embarrassed for Tom [Emmer]. This is clearly a desperate attempt to garner attention after his failed four-hour Speaker bid last year and a gross misuse and waste of taxpayer funds for something that is clearly false. I categorically reject these disingenuous attempts to malign my character and question my loyalty to my home, America.”

The Minnesota Democrat’s comments were highlighted by Somaliland Ambassador Rhoda Elmi in a post on X.

“The language she employed was regrettably unbecoming of both the office she holds and the constituents she represents,” the ambassador wrote on X Sunday. “Her expressions were lacking in common decency and revealed a significant lack of understanding of basic facts.”

Some translations of parts of the video said she was telling Somali Americans that her “Number One job” is to look out for Somalia, and that one day the country will go after other territories to “unify all Somali-speaking people.”

There have long been disputes between the two countries regarding certain territories.

Ms. Elmi said Ms. Omar’s “use of ethno-racist rhetoric didn’t escape attention and left many, with a deep sense of disappointment.”

It has not been a good week for the Squad.

Another member of the group, Rep. Cori Bush, is under criminal investigation for allegedly misusing campaign funds to pay a bodyguard she later married. The Department of Justice notified the House Monday with a subpoena for documents. The Missouri Democrat spent $756,000 on security since she was first elected in 2020.

She has said she’s “fully cooperating” in the investigation.