US Rep Ilhan Omar denies she is a Qatari agent

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has denied accusations made in a US District Court that she was recruited by a foreign government, passed sensitive information that was relayed to Iran, and received funding by a foreign government.

In explosive testimony made by video link from Toronto, Canada to a Florida District Court on October 23, Canadian businessman Alan Bender alleged that Omar was the “jewel in the crown” of an illicit campaign by Qatar to gain influence over the US government. The sworn deposition was obtained exclusively by Al Arabiya English.

“The only people Rep. Omar represents in Washington are the people of Minnesota’s 5th District,” said Omar in a statement sent to a regional news outlet. Her office did not respond to Al Arabiya English’s request for comment.

In the deposition, Bender alleges that he met Qatar’s Secretary to the Emir for Security Affairs Mohammad bin Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Masnad and two other senior Qatari officials who claimed that Qatar “recruited Ilhan Omar from even way before she thought about becoming a government official … They groomed her and arranged the foundation, the grounds, for her to get into politics way before she even showed interest. They convinced her.”

The deposition was authenticated by the attorney for the plaintiff, The Castaneda Law Firm, based in Tampa, Florida. In the response from Omar, her office called the story “outlandishly absurd” and accused Al Arabiya English of targeting her with “misinformation and conspiracy theories.”