Ilhan Omar fails to provide documents by fraud probe deadline, but won't face subpoena after being bailed out by Dems

Minnesota House Fraud and Oversight Committee Chair Kristin Robbins and Rep. Ilhan Omar.

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota won't face a subpoena -- at least for now -- after Democrats in the State House voted unanimously against an oversight committee effort to compel the congresswoman to testify after she missed a deadline to provide documents in the committee's fraud investigation.

The Minnesota House Fraud and Oversight Committee set May 5 as the deadline for Omar to provide documents in the probe, which is focused on emails dating back five years and related to the MEALS Act. Ethics investigators believe the MEALS Act, which Omar co-sponsored in 2020 and was meant to provide free school lunches during the pandemic, was exploited for fraud.

In the intervening years, a major fraud scheme was allegedly uncovered involving Feeding Our Future, an ostensible nonprofit that took federal funds made available by the MEALS Act to pay for free school lunches. But federal investigators say the nonprofit's leaders instead used the $250 million of taxpayer dollars to fund their lavish lifestyles instead. 

The state fraud and oversight committee has been trying to determine what role, if any, Omar may have played in the $250 million scheme, but the congresswoman has declined to cooperate. 

"We have been ghosted," committee chair Kristin Robbins, a Republican, said on Tuesday, according to FOX 9. "We have been absolutely ignored by a sitting member of Congress. She has not responded in any way to our inquiries. This is part of our process in getting those answers." 

Robbins went on to say the committee had never attempted to issue such a subpoena in its history, a move that requires a supermajority vote from members of the State House, which means some Democrats would've had to vote in favor of subpoena for the measure to advance. Democrats then voted unanimously to oppose the subpoena, effectively blocking it and protecting Omar from having to answer questions from the committee members. 

Omar has faced increased scrutiny over her and her husband's finances. When eyebrows were raised about their suddenly skyrocketing net worth as well as questions surrounding an opaque winery owned by the couple, Omar last month issued a statement saying their net worth had been inflated by an "accounting error." The winery was also abruptly dissolved.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill have also tried to investigate Omar for fraud, but Congresswoman Nancy Mace has said that probe has been thwarted by Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Below, watch a clip of Kristin Robbins explaining the effort to subpoena Omar.