Ilhan Omar’s ex-husband, alleged to be her brother, reveals he is gay

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, has identified himself as gay in an academic paper published in August, TMZ reported Friday.

“As a gay man of the East African diaspora, my fieldwork was never neutral,” Elmi wrote in the paper, which examines violence against LGBTQ people in Kenya. Elmi is a doctoral researcher at the University of Bristol.

His disclosure comes amid renewed scrutiny of his 2009 marriage to the Minnesota congresswoman. Critics allege Omar married Elmi, a British citizen, to help him obtain immigration papers, and some have claimed the two are siblings. That claim has never been established.

Elmi left Minnesota in 2012, and the couple finalized their divorce in 2017. Federal investigators are reportedly examining possible immigration fraud involving Omar, after an earlier probe reportedly stalled over the statute of limitations.

Omar has denied any wrongdoing. Asked this month whether Elmi could be related to her, she told MS NOW she was not aware of any such relationship.