Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the Democratic representative-elect for Minnesota’s Fifth District, is accusing a Republican challenger for lying about her to supporters and is being backed by accusations of “a concerted campaign of distraction and deceptions.”
She also said that the incident that brought on that reaction was “highly appropriate.”
That’s according to a statement issued by the Alexandria branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and reported by the Washington Post on Wednesday evening.
Ali Noorani, executive director of CAIR-Minnesota, said the complaint was filed with Minnesota DFL headquarters and said Omar told her story to supporters at a Wednesday evening town hall in Edina, Minnesota.
Omar’s statement said Boebert falsely claimed Omar had retweeted posts to her son and brother that allegedly praised white nationalists, Nazis and white supremacists. That was not true, Omar’s statement said.
Omar then suggested that she was returning the favor after people had questioned her claims of being a victim of domestic violence.
“I will tell you the media told me that I had to come up with an anti-Muslim story,” Omar’s statement said. “I said that my friend was a little mean to me. I responded that everyone has their limits. But when all of the anti-Muslim craziness is over.”
CNN has reached out to Boebert and Omar’s campaign, which both did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The statement continued: “Anti-Muslim extremists use criminal threats, abuse and harassment to silence any hint of criticism of their hateful ideologies; the irony being that Lauren Boebert is trying to deceive Minnesota voters. This is an intimidation tactic that is wrong. But the upside of it is that I am returned the favor of going on the record, exposing her for what she is — an immature, politically motivated and unstable person.”
“The role of the president is clear and it’s up to us, the voters of Minnesota, to hold Lauren Boebert and her ilk accountable for the lies and fear-mongering they are spreading,” Omar’s statement said.
CAIR-Minnesota also called on the U.S. House to investigate whether Boebert’s claims are true.
In a statement issued Wednesday night, Boebert denied that she was behind a false anti-Omar report and said the false claims were part of a concerted attack on her.
She said CAIR was “working together with CAIR-MN, of which I am a board member, to repeat the falsehoods already written by the mainstream media — and gin up anti-Muslim sentiment.”
Boebert’s campaign later sent a statement from Howard Bossman, a GOP consultant, who said the communications from CAIR displayed the group’s “sophisticated” tactics.
“If CAIR cannot investigate their own, then it is time for CAIR to stop telling lies about Democrats,” Bossman said.
Omar defeated Republican former Gov. Tim Pawlenty in the August primary, and will succeed Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress.