FEC: “No Jurisdiction” to Verify Citizenship of Federal Candidates

by Sharon Rondeau

(Jun. 29, 2024) — As reported on September 27 last year, former Minnesota congressional candidate AJ Kern filed an 11-page complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) alleging campaign-finance violations on the part of Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is seeking a fourth term in Congress this November.

Specifically, Kern claimed Omar violated the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, 2 U.S.C. § 30124 and requested a responsive “advisory opinion.”

Titled “Fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority,” the statute reads:

(a) In general

No person who is a candidate for Federal office or an employee or agent of such a candidate shall-

(1) fraudulently misrepresent himself or any committee or organization under his control as speaking or writing or otherwise acting for or on behalf of any other candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof on a matter which is damaging to such other candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof; or

(2) willfully and knowingly participate in or conspire to participate in any plan, scheme, or design to violate paragraph (1).

(b) Fraudulent solicitation of funds

No person shall-

(1) fraudulently misrepresent the person as speaking, writing, or otherwise acting for or on behalf of any candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof for the purpose of soliciting contributions or donations; or

(2) willfully and knowingly participate in or conspire to participate in any plan, scheme, or design to violate paragraph (1).

As a 2022 DFL Fifth-District primary candidate, Kern challenged Omar and fellow contestant Don Samuels, both of whom are foreign-born, to disclose their naturalization documentation to assure voters they were constitutionally eligible for the position they were seeking.

Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires all members of the House of Representatives to be at least 25 years old, “been seven Years a Citizen of the United States,” and reside in the state from which they would serve if elected.

Receiving no response from Omar or Samuels to her written requests, in May 2022 Kern filed suit in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District with the purpose of compelling proof of U.S. citizenship prior to the placement of their names on the district’s primary ballot.

Kern included as a defendant Secretary of State Steve Simon, alleging he failed to conduct due diligence to ascertain that candidates meet the constitutional requirements for the offices to which they wish to be elected. In doing her own due diligence that year to discover the vetting process, a Secretary of State staffer informed Kern that Simon’s office “does not require naturalization records of foreign-born federal candidates” and considered it a violation of law to ask.

On July 1, 2022, Kern’s suit was dismissed by Judge Bridget Ann Sullivan on several grounds, including that the court lacked “subject-matter jurisdiction” as well as the U.S. Constitution’s Article VI, clause 2 provision and state law that “the United States House of Representatives has final say over who is permitted to be a member of that chamber.”

Omar has claimed she acquired U.S. citizenship through the naturalization of her father in 2000. As Kern discovered and The Post & Email reported, as a new member of Congress and after serving one term in the Minnesota House, Omar requested of all websites containing her biographical information that her birth date be changed from October 4, 1981 to October 4, 1982.

The alteration, which was made by Wikipedia, the Minnesota House and other sites, Kern told us in an interview last year, would have made Omar 17 years old prior to October 4, 2000.

Once reaching the age of 18, however, U.S. law precludes a child of a refugee from acquiring U.S. citizenship from a naturalized parent.

As Kern researched and reported, a FOIA request made to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) nearly two years ago yielded a letter last June stating the agency possesses no documentation of Nur Omar Mohamed’s naturalization.

Samuels is again challenging Omar and reportedly within striking distance of unseating her in the August primary.

“The Federal Election Commission has jurisdiction over the Act and Chapters 95 and 96 of Title 26, U.S. Code,” the letter from FEC Assistant General Counsel Wand D. Brown reads (see above image), in part. “After careful review of your complaint, we have determined that it does not state any acts that appear to constitute a violation under our jurisdiction.”

26 USC, Chapter 95 is titled “PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND,” while Chapter 96 bears the title, “PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY MATCHING PAYMENT ACCOUNT.”

Kern reported having contacted members of Congress about her concerns regarding Omar’s possible lack of U.S. citizenship but has received no response. Given the apparent nonexistence of guardrails against such activity, Kern wrote in an email, a non-citizen could be “raising millions of dollars in contributions” while defrauding voters with no repercussions.

On her website Kern wrote:

Absolutely no one… Not Congress. Not the Minnesota Secretary of State. Not the Democrat-Socialist party of Minnesota. Not even the Federal Election Commission (FEC) have verified Ilhan Abdullahi Omar’s U.S. citizenship.

No one is the gatekeeper…

Government should be transparent. American citizens should have the ability to verify that all foreign-born citizens actually do meet all U.S. constitutional qualifications before running for office, especially federal office. But, currently the American people do not have that right. We are not able to ensure that our founding document, the U.S. Constitution, is being respected.