D.C. consultant denies Rep. Ilhan Omar affair

WASHINGTON – A Washington, D.C., political consultant has denied a claim by his estranged wife alleging that he was leaving her for U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Tim Mynett, a Democratic fundraising consultant who works with Omar, also disputed allegations that his business benefited from a personal relationship with the Minnesota Democrat.

In his first public response, Mynett filed papers last week in D.C. Superior Court rebutting last week's divorce filing by his wife, D.C. physician Beth Mynett, who claimed he had revealed a romantic relationship with Omar in April when the couple separated.

"Mr. Mynett denies that he told Ms. Mynett he was leaving the marriage for Representative Ilhan Omar or that he was in love with her," says Tim Mynett's filing. A spokesman in Omar's congressional office reiterated Wednesday that she would not respond to inquiries about her personal life. In an interview last week with WCCO-TV, Omar responded "no, I am not" to a question about whether she is separated from her husband or dating someone else.

Attorneys for Tim Mynett and Beth Mynett did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

The new filing paints a very different picture about the breakdown of the nearly seven-year marriage between Tim Mynett, 38, and Beth Mynett, 55. In pushing back against his wife's claim that he confessed to an affair, Tim Mynett asserted in court filings that by 2018 he was "disenchanted with the parties' marriage and relationship and was struggling to reconcile his deep personal unhappiness with his desire to keep his marriage and family intact."

Tim and Beth Mynett also previously discussed separation and divorce "on multiple occasions, due to the unhappy and unfulfilling nature of their relationship," he said.

Tim Mynett acknowledged his wife's claim that he brought their 13-year-old son to a dinner with Omar, but said it was at the request of their son. Beth Mynett had questioned her husband's judgment in the incident, which occurred as Omar was the subject of death threats.

A consultant to several current and former House Democrats, Mynett said he regularly brought their son to dinner with his political clients.

Omar's campaign paid Mynett's company, E Street Group, nearly $160,000 over the first six months of this year, about $21,000 of it for travel, according to federal records. The company also worked on her bid for Congress in 2018. Last week, E Street Group said in a statement that it had raised more than $2.3 million for Omar's 2020 re-election campaign. The firm's statement also said it does not comment on the personal life of its staff or clients.

"Mr. Mynett denies any allegation which characterizes his work-related travel as being related to the furtherance of a relationship with Rep. Omar," Tim Mynett's court filing read.

Last week after Beth Mynett's allegations became public, a conservative legal group alleged in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission that Omar illegally used campaign funds to pay for Tim Mynett's personal travel expenses. An attorney for Omar's campaign and the E Street Group called the complaint from the National Legal and Policy Center "absolutely false and completely unfounded."

The allegations and counter-allegations in the Mynett divorce case have brought new attention to Omar's own marital history. She is married to Ahmed Hirsi, who is the father of their three children. Though longtime partners, the two did not legally wed until 2018.

It was disclosed earlier this year that Omar filed tax returns with Hirsi in 2014 and 2015 even though she was legally married to but separated from another man at that time.

Patrick Condon • 202-662-7452