Water, Vinegar, and Suspicious Millions: Questions Surround Ilhan Omar

 

Ilhan Omar stands defiant after being spritzed with water and vinegar. Photo courtesy of Ilhan Omar via Facebook.

When they sprayed water on someone suspected of fraud, I said nothing, because I was not suspected of fraud…

Liberal accounts on social media are praising Rep. Ilhan Omar’s courage for raising her fist at her attacker after being squirted with a small amount of water. Mainstream media are quick to point out that the syringe did not contain only water but also apple cider vinegar, a non-irritant which, if it hits your face, can cause temporary blindness and a sour taste in your mouth. It is also known to remove stains from clothing.

Unlike President Trump, who missed one day of work after being shot, the courageous Ilhan Omar returned to the podium and defiantly continued her diatribe on why federal law enforcement should be discontinued. Where others might have been concerned that there was a chemical or biological weapon in the syringe, Omar pressed on, almost as if she knew she had been doused with salad dressing.

While recovering from the traumatic ordeal that left droplets of moisture on her blouse, Omar is reportedly under Justice Department investigation over questions surrounding her finances and the rapid growth of her personal wealth since entering Congress.

Critics point to financial disclosures showing her family’s assets grew from a reported negative net worth when she entered Congress in 2019 to 2024 estimates ranging between $6 million and $30 million.

President Trump has been criticized for claiming Omar went from having “NOTHING” in Somalia to being worth over $44 million. He has been attacked by the media, which claim the $44 million figure is an exaggeration, but whether the figure is $30 million or $44 million, it is reasonable to ask how she arrived at such a large sum in just a few years while earning about $175,000 per year.

Based on her own filings, the value of her husband’s stake in Rose Lake Capital jumped from a maximum of $1,000 to a minimum of $5 million in a single year. Despite signing these forms under penalty of perjury, Omar told Business Insider in February 2025 that the claim she is worth millions is “categorically false.” She went on to say that she is “barely worth thousands” and owns neither a house nor stocks. As a result, it appears that in some interviews she has suggested her net worth is less than $1 million, while in others she has attributed the growth in her net worth to prudent investment.

Forensic accountants and the House Oversight Committee are now looking for the “why.” They are investigating whether the 2024 valuation was a typo, a massive success for her husband’s firm, or related to broader federal investigations into billion-dollar fraud within Minnesota state assistance programs and Somali-linked charities, such as the “Feeding Our Future” fraud scandal.

Omar responded by accusing Trump of using conspiracy theories about her to distract from declining political support and policy failures, saying previous investigations found no wrongdoing while calling for federal immigration agents to leave Minneapolis and urging the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Whether anyone will heed Omar’s calls to end immigration enforcement operations or remove Secretary Noem remains to be seen. However, the investigation into Omar’s finances continues. On Kalshi, a CFTC-regulated prediction market where users trade on real-world outcomes, the odds as of January 30 placed a 49 percent probability on Ilhan Omar being charged with a federal crime this year.

While Omar and her supporters claim the DOJ is being weaponized against her, they fail to recognize that the government is also attempting to assist her by getting to the bottom of the vicious attack she barely survived.

The FBI has assumed control of the investigation into the attack during a town hall event in Minneapolis, according to confirmation from both local police and federal authorities. Minneapolis police charged the suspect, identified as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, with third-degree assault.

Democrats are blaming President Trump for the attack, saying his rhetoric enables political violence, which is ironic given the widespread violence against ICE agents and Republicans in general, fueled by Democratic lawmakers framing them as Nazis and the Gestapo. They are also criticizing Trump for stating publicly that he believed the attack was a hoax. Media have even linked the incident to negative sentiment caused by investigations into Somali-linked fraud.

Ostensibly, Democrats believe that ICE enforcement should be halted and fraud investigations into Omar and the broader Somali community should be terminated, or these types of spritzing attacks will become commonplace.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/water-vinegar-suspicious-millions-questions-surround-ilhan-omar/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/minnesota-gov-tim-walz-ag-keith-ellison-set/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/dark-money-foreign-influence-global-network-funding-anti/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/anti-ice-rioters-clash-federal-agents-local-police/

LAPD Chief Defies Gavin Newsom, Refuses to Enforce Face Covering Ban on ICE Agents (VIDEO)

 Here is a Police chief that is not a Coward and doing his job and not kissing the asses of these Liberal Assholes

LAPD Chief Jim McConnell during a press conference on Friday.

The Los Angeles Police Department LAPD) will not enforce a California law that prohibits federal immigration agents from wearing masks during enforcement operations.

During an appearance on Good Day LA, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell warned that doing so could endanger officers and escalate volatile situations.

“From a practical standpoint, our role when we get to a scene is to de-escalate the situation, not to ramp it up,” McDonnell said.

“Trying to enforce a misdemeanor violation on another law enforcement agency, that’s not going to end well. And that’s not going to be good.”

“From a public safety standpoint for anybody in that environment,” he continued. “Potentially, you have a crowd that could be agitated and trying to get their point across.”

“And then you have the ICE agents who are doing their job. And for us to come in then and try and create an enforcement action for wearing a mask, it’s not a safe way to do business.”

At a press conference on Friday, McDonnell said that enforcing Newsom’s law “doesn’t make any sense.”

“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor at best or an infraction.”

The law in question was signed by Newsom in September 2025 and makes it a misdemeanor for local, state, or federal law enforcement officers to wear masks or personal disguises while performing official duties.

“We have the right to stand up and push back,” Newsom declared at the time. “This is a disgrace, this is an outrage, what we have allowed to happen in this country.”

The only exceptions to the law include agents who are operating undercover or using protective equipment during tactical operations.

The legislation followed a series of immigration raids across Los Angeles, during which federal agents were seen wearing face coverings.

While the Trump administration has acknowledged that the wearing of face coverings is undesirable, they are worn to protect agents’ families against harassment, doxxing, and threats from far-left immigration activists.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/lapd-chief-defies-gavin-newsom-refuses-enforce-face/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/fbi-nails-dozens-latin-kings-gangsters-nationwide-bust/

What Do New Yorkers Get for Their High Taxes?

 And how does Florida compare?

Millions in taxpayer money have disappeared in Minnesota...but it’s not just Minnesota.  There are other blue states where billions in taxpayer funds seem to be unaccountable.  What happened to the missing money?  Obviously, it went into someone’s account, at times with the knowledge of state officials who may have received contributions or votes to remain silent, but into whose account?

The contrast between New York and Florida in this regard, as in so much else, is revealing.  The marginal income tax rate in New York state is 10.9% (nearly 15% in New York City), along with sales taxes of nearly 9% in some counties and additional local fees and a statewide inheritance tax.  Altogether, state taxes in New York can reach 35% (counting inheritance tax) — and this on top of federal taxes.  There is no state income tax in Florida, there is no inheritance tax, and food and pharmacy items are exempt from sales tax.  Yet the quality of life, measured by most objective standards, is higher in Florida.

New York collects far more in taxes from its residents, but they seem to get little in return.  Certainly not better policing — the crime rate in New York state is 46 per thousand annually, among the highest in the U.S.  In Florida, the crime rate is 25 per thousand, with a rate of 3.8 per thousand for violent crimes, making it below the national average.

What about education?  According to U.S. News & World Report, Florida ranks first in the nation in combined K–12 and higher education metrics, and has done so for the past two years.  New York ranks  17th, just above Kansas.  Yet for 2024–25, New York was projected to have spent $33,437 per student on education, double the national average.  According to the same survey, Florida spent $12,415.  How can the schools be so much better in Florida, which spends slightly more than one third on education as New York?  It must be corruption, inefficiency, or just “higher cost,” or some combination of the three.

How about roads?  Florida’s road system ranks 14th in the nation in performance and cost-effectiveness.  New York’s road system ranks 45th overall and 47th in traffic congestion despite higher spending.

New York doesn’t do so well on policing, roads, or education, but it spends $4,003 per capita on welfare, whereas Florida spends $1,709.  According to StatsAmerica, New York spends the fourth highest amount on welfare in the U.S., Florida the fourth lowest.  But that welfare spending doesn’t make residents safer or more employable.  Maybe it just buys votes, or perhaps it disappears in the same way that Medicaid payments are alleged to have done in Minnesota. Whatever the reason, despite its higher spending, 14.2% of New Yorkers and 25% of New York City residents live below the federal poverty level.  In Florida, the rate is 12.6%.

If New York residents, especially those in New York City, get so little in return, where does all that money go?  Not to better roads, not to education, not to the quality of life, not to assist those who are truly needy.  Somehow it simply vanishes — but into whose pockets?

What we are finding out about Minnesota — that a vast scheme of fraudulent services “on an industrial scale” paid for with taxpayer money has existed for decades — may exist in New York and in other states as well.  This may explain part of the difference in tax rates in New York and Florida.  Or it may be that there are simply less fraud and corruption in Florida and other red states.  Or, ruling out criminal intent, it may be that Florida is simply better managed, and it is better managed because an enlightened public demands that it be so.

One way that tax dollars disappear is into so-called non-profit organizations that provide little in actual services or that provide services that are not actually needed.  (An NPO that provided golfing lessons to inner-city youth comes to mind.)  DOJ investigators allege that daycare centers in Minnesota were charging for services that did not exist.  Has something similar been taking place in New York?  There must be a reason for the differences in spending in New York and Florida — and worse outcomes in New York — and corruption is one possible explanation.

In FY 2024 New York City alone spent $16 billion on non-profits, amounting to 15% of the city’s budget.  Some of these NPOs are probably legitimate, but $16 billion is $2,000 for every man, woman, and child in New York.  Is every family of four, on average, feeling $8,000 better?

Some wasteful government programs are easy to identify: Job Corps, which has been operating since 1964, has received failing marks from the GAO for decades, but it continues to be funded.  The cost per student in Job Corps is reportedly up to $764,000, with graduation rates as low as 32% and post-program wages of something like $17,000 per annum — and this to learn basic job skills that, in my opinion, could be learned more effectively in the military or, for that matter, at any fast food restaurant.

Although Job Corps is not specific to New York or other blue states, it is representative of the high costs, inefficiency, and poor management of other non-profits, which are funded at higher levels in places like New York — and like Job Corps, at federal and state expense.  The solution is to cut federal and state spending for failing programs and, for that matter, overall, something that the Trump administration has begun to do in the case of Job Corps.

State taxes are higher for everyone in New York, and can be six times as high as in Florida for wealthy residents.  New York collects far more in taxes, but the quality of life is better in Florida.  What happens to all of that taxpayer money?  It seems to disappear, just as it does in Minnesota.

Only a highly skilled prosecutor with a large staff could untangle the dark web of where all that money goes, but it’s obvious that it must be going somewhere.  Many affluent residents have simply given up and left New York.  It’s time for those who remain to begin asking for answers before state officials raise their taxes even more.

Jeffrey Folks is the author of many books and articles on American culture including Heartland of the Imagination (2011).

Update from Andrea: A reader wise to the ways of the New York tax system adds this helpful information:

Neither NYS nor NYC has an inheritance tax. There is, however, a statewide large estate tax triggered at approximately $7 million. Beneficiaries therefore pay neither tax, while the estate pays the estate tax if triggered. 

That's good to know for estate planning, but the bottom line is that the New York government gets its cut.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/01/what_do_new_yorkers_get_for_their_high_taxes.html