• Rep. Ilhan Omar said she barely has "thousands let alone millions" in a X post about her net worth.
• The member of AOC's "Squad" said she doesn't own stocks or a house and still has student loans.
• Commenters on X reacted to Omar's post with everything from skepticism to appreciation.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said she hardly has "thousands let alone millions," doesn't own stocks or a house, and is still repaying her student loans, sparking reactions from X users ranging from disbelief to reluctant respect.

Omar is perhaps best known as a member of the "Squad" of progressive House members along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC.

The Minnesota lawmaker emulated her New York colleague by publicly discussing her personal finances this week, after an X user claimed both Democratic congresswomen were worth tens of millions of dollars, and accused Ocasio-Cortez of taking bribes.

Ocasio-Cortez replied that she's worth less than $500,000, doesn't earn any income beside her government salary, and doesn't own a house or trade individual stocks.

Omar said the user was lying about her net worth too. She pointed to her past financial disclosures as proof of her modest wealth, and added a facepalm emoji.

"Since getting elected, there has been a coordinated right-wing disinformation campaign claiming all sorts of wild things, including the ridiculous claim I am worth millions of dollars which is categorically false," Omar told Business Insider.

"I am a working mom with student loan debt. Unlike some of my colleagues — and similar to most Americans — I am not a millionaire and am raising a family while maintaining a residence in both Minneapolis and DC, which are among the most expensive housing markets in the country," she added.

The Democratic legislator was born in Somalia, moved to the US as a refugee in 1995, and has been a House member since 2019. She earns the standard congressional salary of $174,000 a year.

Omar's financial disclosure form last year showed up to $65,000 of assets, split across a congressional savings account and a Minnesota state retirement account. She also reported between $15,0001 and $50,000 of outstanding student loans dating back to 2005. Like Ocasio-Cortez, she might hold additional funds in accounts that don't need to be disclosed.

The form also showed funds attributed to her spouse, a political consultant named Tim Mynett. He disclosed up to $143,000 of assets and up to about $54,000 of income, linked to various individual retirement accounts (IRA) and 401 (k) retirement savings plans, a winery, and a venture capital firm.

Gauging the reaction

One X user, @beetle6000, said in response to Omar's post: "How could you still be paying off student loans making that much money?"

Others said they disagreed with Omar's politics but respected her integrity, echoing reactions to Ocasio-Cortez's similar post.

"I usually don't agree with you but on this, until they produce receipts I have to agree," @adryenn wrote.

@AidenPerrin40 wrote: "You and I disagree on 99.9% of issues but … Major respect to you ma'am for not owning any stock. It's important to give credit to those of which we disagree with when they get it right."

@nrghound wrote: "I disagree with Omar politically, but I'm sure she's telling the truth about her income. The Democrat Senators make a ton of money narrative is circulating right now. It feels like a hit piece to me."

Some just seemed to enjoy what seemed like refreshing transparency.

@runningmoron wrote: "I kind of like this era of congress people talking about how broke they are."

Politicians face fresh scrutiny as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency searches for fraud, waste, and abuse.

In a Tuesday press conference, the Tesla CEO and close advisor to President Donald Trump said it was "rather odd" that government employees earning salaries of a few hundred thousand dollars could grow their net worth into the tens of millions while in their roles, but didn't offer any examples.

Musk said he thinks "the reality is that they're getting wealthy at the taxpayers' expense, that's the honest truth of it."

Correction: February 12, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the press conference. It took place on Tuesday, not Wednesday.

• Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan had her appeal against the death sentence rejected.
• She was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking rules.
• Judges said her sentence may be reduced if she paid three-quarters of the $12 billion she embezzled.

A Vietnamese real estate tycoon is desperately trying to raise $9 billion to avoid the death penalty after her bid to appeal the sentence was rejected on Tuesday.

Truong My Lan, the chairwoman of real estate developer Van Thinh Phat Group, was arrested in 2022 and sentenced to death in April for embezzling $12.5 billion over a decade.

The sum amounted to about 3% of Vietnam's 2022 GDP.

The fraud trial, which began in March, was Vietnam's largest ever and among Southeast Asia's most significant corruption scandals in recent years.

Lan was accused of illegally controlling Saigon Commercial Bank and using shell companies to secure more than 2,500 loans for herself and her accomplices.

She was found guilty of embezzlement, bribery, and violating banking rules.

In a separate trial in October, Lan appealed to the judges and prosecutors for clemency, saying she had to pay "too expensive a price."

However, judges at the People's High Court of Ho Chi Minh City rejected Lan's appeal on Tuesday, saying that there are no mitigating circumstances to reduce her sentence, according to local media outlet VnExpress.

But they said the country's law allows a death sentence to be commuted to life in prison provided three-quarters of the estimated losses are returned, per the outlet.

In Lan's case, that amounts to about $9 billion.

Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore's ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, told the AP that death sentences in Vietnam aren't immediately carried out, and that Lan would seek another review of the case or a presidential pardon to reduce her sentence.

"Moreover, if she repays at least three-quarters of the misappropriated funds, the court may consider commuting her sentence to life imprisonment," he said.

According to the BBC, in recent hearings Lan has said that she's embarrassed to have been such a drain on the country and that her only thought was to pay back the money.

"The total value of her holdings actually exceeds the required compensation amount," her lawyer, Nguyen Huy Thiep, told the outlet before her appeal was rejected.

"However, these require time and effort to sell, as many of the assets are real estate and take time to liquidate," Nguyen said.

Lan's lawyers also said that the death sentence would make it harder for her to negotiate the best prices for her assets.

According to the BBC, Lan is also believed to have reached out to friends to try to raise loans to help her reach the target.

While prosecutors identified Lan as the ringleader, her family members were also caught up in the case, including her husband, Eric Chu, and niece, Truong Hue Van, who were both sentenced to time behind bars.

Former executives at Saigon Commercial Bank have also been sentenced to life in prison, along with a senior figure at Vietnam's central bank.