Squad Member Caught Stealing Federal Resources

Fox News Digital has learned that a government watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint against Ilhan Omar, a Democratic Representative from Minnesota, over accusations of misusing government resources.

On Thursday, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) lodged a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics, requesting an urgent investigation into whether Ilhan Omar breached House regulations and misused official resources for political purposes via a social media account.

The focus of FACT’s complaint is on Ilhan Omar’s utilization of TikTok, a social media platform whose parent organization, ByteDance, is located in Beijing and has received criticism for being a spying application. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that TikTok could be exploited by the Chinese government for data operations, and the House of Representatives banned its use on official devices, citing security concerns.

“In spite of this, Rep. Omar has a TikTok account that she is clearly using for both official House and political purposes,” the watchdog group explained. “The biography portion of the account describes her as a ‘Congresswoman for #MN05.’ She has posted overtly political posts, including video of her urging viewers to support Democrat candidates, a message to Democrats volunteering for campaigns, and several videos of her campaigning and attending campaign events.” 

“Along with this political content, she has also made posts that used official government resources, including C-SPAN footage from the House floor, what appears to be a cell phone video recorded on the House floor, and an interview from what appears to be her House office,” the group added.

Elected officials are not allowed to use official resources for their political campaigns, according to regulations. Additionally, lawmakers are not permitted to utilize campaign funds for official purposes.

FACT cited numerous instances of supposed violations in its complaint, including a TikTok post featuring Omar speaking from what seems to be her congressional office about the House’s selection of a speaker, accompanied by the caption “Long days of historic humiliation extended.”

FACT emphasized that if Omar shot the video in her government office, it would have breached the rules forbidding filming in government offices for political or campaign reasons, as well as the prohibition on posting political content on an official social media account.

Another instance cited by FACT involved Omar sharing C-SPAN footage of the House floor, along with the caption, “It’s a bad sign for your majority when the only consensus you can find is adjourning. [Laughing emoji].”