Omar’s husband accused of selling investors empty wine barrels — and the winery is already gone

THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

House Oversight Chairman James Comer says a California winery co-owned by Ilhan Omar’s husband allegedly sold investors barrels of aging wine that contained no wine.
The winery, eStCru, was dissolved in April after Congress began questioning dramatic changes in the reported value of the couple’s business holdings.
Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, calls the allegations an “absolute and provable lie” as federal scrutiny of the congresswoman continues.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

There’s a new twist in the increasingly complicated financial story surrounding Rep. Ilhan Omar and her husband, Tim Mynett.

And this one involves a winery that allegedly sold investors something rather unusual.

Wine barrels.

Without the wine.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says the California wine business co-owned by Mynett apparently offered investors barrels of wine that were supposed to appreciate in value as the contents aged.

One small problem, according to Comer: There allegedly weren’t any contents.

Appearing on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy, the Kentucky Republican delivered the accusation while discussing his committee’s investigation of the couple’s financial disclosures.

“They were apparently selling investors barrels of wine to be aged, but there was nothing in the barrels,” Comer said.

Well, that’s certainly one approach to the wine business. No grapes to harvest, no fermentation to supervise, and apparently no need to worry about whether the vintage is any good.

Just sell the barrel and let the customer’s imagination handle the bouquet.

The winery in question, eStCru LLC, was a California business in which Mynett held an ownership stake. It was officially terminated in April, roughly two months after Comer sent Mynett a congressional demand for financial records.

But it’s the numbers behind the couple’s disclosed wealth that originally attracted the chairman’s attention.

In February, Comer requested documents concerning eStCru and Mynett’s other business, Rose Lake Capital, after Omar’s financial disclosures indicated a remarkable increase in the reported value of the two companies.

The combined maximum reported values climbed from approximately $51,000 in 2023 to as much as $30 million in 2024.

That’s a fairly impressive year in anybody’s investment portfolio.

According to the congressional letter, eStCru’s reported value reached as high as $5 million, while Rose Lake Capital was listed at up to $25 million.

The chairman questioned how the companies had experienced such extraordinary growth when little public information was available about their investors, assets or operations.

Rose Lake Capital’s website had also claimed to manage $60 billion in assets, another figure that drew congressional attention.

Sixty billion dollars. That’s the sort of number that usually attracts a few curious accountants.

Comer’s committee also revisited an earlier lawsuit involving an eStCru investor who alleged that Mynett had promised a substantial return on a $300,000 investment.

The investor sued in 2023, accusing Mynett of misrepresenting the business and failing to repay the money as promised. The dispute was subsequently resolved.

Then came the 2026 financial disclosure revisions.

Omar amended her filings in March, dramatically reducing the reported value of the family’s holdings. Her office attributed the earlier figures to an accounting error involving business liabilities that had not been properly reflected.

Nine days later, the winery’s California business registration was terminated.

None of that establishes that investors purchased empty barrels. Comer attributed that specific allegation to press reporting, and no underlying barrel-sale contracts, investor testimony or court findings have been publicly produced to substantiate it.

Mynett, for his part, isn’t having any of it.

Responding on X, Omar’s husband dismissed the accusations as “an absolute and provable lie.”

In another post, he demanded to know where the claims originated.

The dispute comes as Omar faces separate federal scrutiny involving her immigration history and financial affairs, following a search of her Washington-area residence.

Omar has denied wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of politically motivated law enforcement.

Comer, however, argues that the questions surrounding her financial disclosures deserve further investigation.

And the wine business has now become an especially colorful part of that controversy.

Was eStCru a legitimate investment venture that ultimately failed? Were its valuations properly calculated? And what documentation, if any, supports the allegation about investors buying barrels containing nothing?

Those are questions investigators and the people involved still need to answer.

Meanwhile, the old wine industry saying about letting a good vintage breathe has acquired a rather unexpected political meaning.

According to Comer, some investors may have paid for little more than the breathing part.