Cumar Jamaal - a real traitor?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

It is a sad and unfortunate one of our own - Cumar Jamaal - being used by the far right's propaganda against our own sister. Not first time being a foreign mouthpiece and against fellow Soomaalis.

I knew this guy was opportunist at large ever since he was a staunch Xabashi defender back in mid 2005-2007.

__________________

Omar Jamal, key source of Project Veritas election fraud video, backtracks on cash-for-ballots allegation

Earlier this week, a right-wing media outfit called Project Veritas released a two-part video sting that, without clear evidence, alleged to discover voting fraud in Minneapolis’ Somali community, including payments for ballots. 

On Wednesday, however, Omar Jamal, a man who Project Veritas said was the main source for its investigation, gave a starkly different account of his participation in the Project Veritas segments. His new claims seemed to contradict key facts and scenes described in the original tape—what Project Veritas on Twitter describes as “the biggest systemic voter fraud smoking gun in American history.”

In a 25-minute video on Minnesota-based Somali American TV—a program that provides news and information about Somalis and broadcasts online via social media channels—Omar Jamal speaks in Somali about the election fraud story. Omar Jamal specifically alleges that he thinks a clip that purports to show a “ballot harvester” paying a voter $200 in exchange for a vote was instead a demonstration of how that process allegedly works. That is, not an example of “systemic voter fraud” seen in real time.

Project Veritas leader James O’Keefe introduces the political video as “an explosive piece of tape [that] shows a man buying a registration form for an absentee ballot for a voter, giving him ‘pocket money’ of $200 and expecting to collect his ballot when the voter receives it.”

In the Somali American TV interview, the show’s host, Ali Harare, asks Omar Jamal whether he met anyone who received cash in exchange for a vote.

He replies no. 

Project Veritas did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Omar Jamal interview. 

Omar Jamal declined an interview request from Sahan Journal.

Omar Jamal’s new statements muddled what was already a confusing story. In some sense, that confusion seemed to match the methods of Project Veritas, which media researchers at Harvard University have labeled a “right-wing disinformation outfit.” 

Project Veritas and its leader, James O’Keefe, have gained a measure of fame in right-wing media circles for their sting operations, entrapment tactics, and deceptively edited videos. The group’s current focus is to undermine the credibility of mail-in voting, also a major goal for President Donald J. Trump, who is trailing in election polls. 

The operation’s purpose, according to a source close with Project Veritas who spoke to The New Republic, is “literally to get Trump reelected.”

Much of the footage in the two videos released this week comes from hidden cameras or social media accounts. While it’s difficult to follow the plot line, the sting depicts a variety of voting practices, which may or may not be illegal. 

Anonymous sources accuse a collection of separate Somali Americans of paying cash for votes and also organizing “ballot harvesting.” This is a mail-in ballot practice, often legal, in which a third party collects election ballots from voters and submits them to election judges. 

The first tape purports to show a man collecting absentee ballots for the August primary election. In Minnesota, it’s legal to turn in up to three ballots for other voters—although Minnesota courts eliminated that limit for a five-week period this summer. 

The second tape purports to show an exchange of cash for a voter registration form. However, the video footage doesn’t clearly depict any exchange of money. 

Omar Jamal now says he never saw cash paid for ballots

The key source in the Somali community—who speaks with Project Veritas voluntarily and on the record—is Omar Jamal. In the videos, he alleges that prominent politicians are engaged in a cash-for-ballots scheme. A community activist, Omar Jamal has a history of making provocative and unsubstantiated allegations in the media, dating back more than a decade. 

In 2009, he made appearances on national television to share unsubstantiated opinions that al-Qaeda cells were operating in the Twin Cities. He’s also participated in a panel organized by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher about a controversial training program on stopping terrorism. 

At the time, the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced the panel. And it expressed doubts about Omar Jamal, pointing to allegations that he lied to immigration officials in the early 2000s. 

In the Somali American TV interview, Omar Jamal says he decided to work with Project Veritas after the group approached him with alleged evidence of voter fraud. He says the group was specifically targeting Representative Ilhan Omar.

He also states that Project Veritas sent some of its operatives to polling centers during Minnesota’s August primary election. 

In the interview, Omar Jamal says he sometimes was obliged to go with the group when they were secretly filming their interviews. He maintains that at other times he wasn’t aware that the group was taping him.

At one point, host Ali Harare asks Omar Jamal specifically about the part of the video where two men are talking about how to fill out the voter registration form and appearing to joke about when they will close a “deal.” 

The host asks Omar Jamal if the Project Veritas clip showed people being told to vote for a certain candidate in exchange for money, or whether he met anyone who offered cash for a ballot. Omar Jamal responds to Ali Harare: “No, I haven’t met them. I think that incident was one that was depicting how [cash-for-ballot] works.”

President Trump has so far tweeted about or retweeted the Project Veritas video ten times, starting Sunday night. His first tweetstorm started shortly after the New York Times published a bombshell report showing that Trump has paid almost no taxes over the last ten years. He also cited the video in his Duluth campaign appearance Wednesday night. 

Though Omar Jamal’s new comments seem to contradict what Project Veritas claims, he is raising funds to continue collaborating with them through the November election.

Since the Project Veritas videos came out, Omar Jamal has set up a GoFundMe fundraise page. He’s seeking $500,000 to “further expose potentially more election fraud come November,” fight potential legal challenges, and establish financial stability for his family. 

On social media, Project Veritas has been asking its supporters to donate to Omar Jamal’s fundraiser. 

GoFundMe said it’s investigating the authenticity of the page. “I can confirm that our Trust & Safety team is investigating this fundraiser and has reached out to the organizer for more information,” a GoFundMe spokesperson told the Daily Dot, a news source that covers internet culture.

Three days after launching the campaign, Omar Jamal had raised more than $30,000.

Xigasho

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Subject of Project Veritas voter fraud story says he was offered bribe 

 Liban Osman is still trying to figure out how he became a symbol of voter fraud in America.   

“It’s insane,” said the brother of newly elected Ward 6 Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osman.

Liban Osman is featured prominently in a video released last week by the conservative media operation Project Veritas claiming there is “massive voter fraud” in Minnesota orchestrated by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.   

In his first interview, Liban Osman tells the FOX 9 Investigators he was offered $10,000 by community activist Omar Jamal to say he was collecting ballots for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.   

“He was setting me up,” said Liban Osman.

Tale of Two Videos 

It is clear from the raw video, obtained by FOX 9, that Liban Osman was working for his brother’s campaign.  

Liban Osman admits the Project Veritas video footage looks incriminating, but he said the group deliberately left the full context on the cutting room floor. Project Veritas used two separate videos he posted on Snapchat while driving in his car to make it appear as if he was illegally picking up ballots and offering money for votes, he said.     

In a video from July, Liban Osman said he was collecting mail in ballots from sick and elderly voters who had requested them through the campaign.   

Liban Osman denies that he filled out the ballots or altered them in any way. He said what appears to be open ballots laying on the dash of his car are actually the envelopes the ballots came in. He said voters concerned about identity theft asked him to shred the envelopes.

Despite his boast that he had 300 ballots in the car, he said the actual number was closer to 20.  

‘Money Is Everything’ 

Because of various court decisions, so-called ‘ballot harvesting’ - collecting more than the statutory limit of three ballots - was permitted during a five-week period this summer, from July 28 to September 4.   

An attorney for Project Veritas claims Liban Osman’s Snapchat video collecting mail-in ballots was recorded in early July, making it illegal at the time to harvest more than three ballots.  

Liban Osman could not recall the exact date he recorded the video, but said he believed it was in late July.  

That video from July is edited with another video from August, when Liban Osman is heard boasting about money in politics. “Money is everything. It’s the key to this world,” he says. 

The unedited video reveals the comments were clearly directed at his brother’s 11 opponents in the Ward 6 special election, many of whom were operating shoe-string campaigns.   

‘Why are you defending Ilhan Omar?’ 

Liban Osman said he was approached by community activist Omar Jamal, who is a so-called ‘insider’ for Project Veritas and appears to be their primary source. 

Omar Jamal, who he had not met previously, told him Project Veritas would pay him $10,000 to say he was harvesting ballots for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.   

“He said, ‘Why are you defending Ilhan Omar?’” Liban recounts. “’They (Project Veritas) are not after you or your brother. Why are you defending her?’’”  

“I told him he was insane and walked away,” Liban Osman said.  

Project Veritas denies manipulating or misrepresenting its undercover video and claims it never offered Liban Osman $10,000.   

Project Veritas Responds 

“These are wild, and crazy, and baseless accusations,” said Jered Ede, chief legal officer for Project Veritas.  

“This, to me, is a man who is drowning in the consequences of his own actions, who is trying to grasp at every possible straw to keep himself from going under,” Ede said. 

In a second report from Project Veritas, surreptitiously recorded video shows a man receiving $200 in “pocket money” in exchange for his agreement to vote for Ilhan Omar.   

James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, calls it “an explosive piece of tape.” 

But two sources tell the FOX 9 Investigators the man is a relative of Omar Jamal, and that during the encounter outside Cedar Riverside Apartments, it is Jamal who is handing the man $200 which was intended for the family of a sick relative in Somalia.   

The Project Veritas reports also contend, without evidence, that the cash for ballots scheme is being bank rolled by Lake Street businessman Basim Sabri.   

In the second video, an anonymous woman said, “He’s Palestinian. He’s funding the whole thing.” 

“It’s so un-American, it’s so illegal,” said Sabri, reached at his home in Miami.   

Sabri provided the FOX 9 Investigators with a letter from his attorney threatening to sue Project Veritas for defamation if they do not remove the video.   

Sabri acknowledged that he is a long-time supporter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and said he has also complained to the DFL about prior voting fraud in Ward 6. “I would never do that. Ever. Never. Because I would be a hypocrite,” said Sabri. 

For his part, Omar Jamal has used his appearance in the Project Veritas reports to raise nearly $30,000. In an interview with Somali American TV, he reportedly backtracked on claims he witnessed cash being exchanged for ballots.  

Omar Jamal declined an interview request, referring questions instead to Project Veritas.  

President Trump has repeatedly tweeted about the Minnesota voter fraud claims and mentioned it at his campaign stop in Duluth last week.   

“What about Omar that she gets caught harvesting,” Trump bellowed at the campaign event shortly before he became sick with COVID-19. “What the hell is going on?” 

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s campaign has categorically and repeatedly denied any involvement in voting fraud, harvesting ballots, or paying for votes.   

A Pattern of Disinformation 

The lack of verifiable evidence, allegations of misrepresentation and entrapment, and coordination with conservative causes, has been part of Project Veritas’ method of operation.   

The Stanford Internet Observatory reports there is evidence that the voter fraud story was coordinated with the Republican Party and rushed to publication to distract from the New York Times blockbuster on President Trump’s efforts to avoid paying federal income tax.

Days before the publication of the report, James O’Keefe of Project Veritas met with Trump’s Minnesota Campaign Chair, Mike Lindell,  - founder and CEO of My Pillow Inc. - who tweeted out a tease that the report was forthcoming that night.   

A week later the first Project Veritas video on alleged voter fraud in Minnesota had been viewed more than one million times on YouTube. The second report had been viewed more than a half-million times. 

Source

[Che -Guevara]

Was he a soler or just someone Ilhan knocked out!

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

He probably could have been a SOLer, like Duke and was diehard pro-C/llaahi Yuusuf between 2004 to 2008. Xataa asaga shaqa u geeyey at UN's Soomaaliya office.

[Che -Guevara]

It is not Duke. From what I understand Duke is Abdi Warsame, former Minneapolis City Councilor. who now heads Minneapolis Housing Authority. 

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

I didn't say he was GD. I meant like GD, he might have been a member.

[Che -Guevara]

Got you.