E Street Group

Background

The E Street Group was founded in 2018 by Tim Mynett and William Hailer (also known as Will Hailer). ² Mynett and Hailer had previously worked for then-Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who later became Minnesota Attorney General. Hailer worked as Ellison’s campaign manager in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District. ³

Between its founding in 2018 through 2020, E Street Group provided consulting services including digital advertising, fundraising consulting, video production and editing, and mail production and postage for political campaigns. ⁴

In addition to U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Federal Election Commission records show that the campaigns of U.S. Reps. Debra Haaland (D-NM), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR); the Committee for a Livable Future, a leadership PAC associated with Rep. Blumenauer; ⁵ the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party (the state Democratic Party); and the Democratic National Committee have paid E Street Group for various services. ⁶ In February 2022, the Minnesota DFL Party’s federal committee paid E Street Group $15,000, two days after Omar’s campaign reported paying the DFL committee the same amount. ⁷

Controversy

Mynett-Omar Affair Allegations

The E Street Group first drew national attention when, in August 2019, Tim Mynett—one of the firm’s partners—was accused in divorce proceedings by his then-wife of having an affair with married U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the E Street Group’s clients. Mynett’s then-wife alleged that Tim had claimed that his business, the E Street Group, was “floundering” and that he was “nearly broke.” ⁸

The E Street Group has been heavily involved with Omar’s campaign. From 2018 through August 2019, the Omar campaign paid the E Street Group or Mynett more than $230,000, most of which was exchanged after Omar had already won her hotly contested 2018 primary, even though she faced a noncompetitive general election. ⁹ The E Street Group received more money from the Omar campaign than any other organization aside from the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, accounting for 10% of all campaign spending between September and December 2018. ^{10 11} From 2017 through the conclusion of the 2019-20 election cycle, Omar’s campaign made 152 payments to E Street Group totaling approximately $3 million. ¹¹

In August 2019, the conservative National Legal and Policy Center filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Omar. The complaint alleged that the money paid to E Street went to fund Mynett’s personal travel expenses related to their affair, rather than to political-consulting services, which would constitute a violation of FEC rules. ¹²

From April 22 through June 11, the Omar campaign transferred 14 payments totaling $70,000 to the E Street Group. Six of the payments totaling $12,673.43 were labeled simply as “travel expenses,” which must be itemized according to FEC policy. Mynett’s then-wife questioned whether the payments made for “travel” to E Street Group were used for private travel, rather than legitimate campaign work.  ⁹

The firm denied all allegations of improper uses of funds paid to it by the Omar campaign. The E Street Group released a statement claiming it had raised more than $2.3 million on behalf of Rep. Omar’s reelection campaign in the first eight months of 2019.  ^{9 13}  Following this, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) found no evidence of legal wrongdoing in the arrangement. ¹⁴ In November 2020, following Rep. Omar’s reelection, she announced she had severed financial ties with E Street Group. ¹⁵

Following the completion of Mynatt’s divorce, Mynatt and Rep. Omar married. ¹⁶

Fraud Allegations

In 2022, co-founder Tim Mynett left E Street Group to co-found venture-capital firm Rose Lake Capital LLC with William Hailer. ¹⁷  The pair also co-founded eStCru LLC, a California-based wine company, and eSt Ventures, which was involved in cannabis investments. ¹⁸

Following this, Mynett and Hailer later faced fraud allegations from South Dakota cannabis companies, which claimed the pair failed to fulfill fundraising commitments. The cannabis investors alleged they were defrauded of approximately $3.5 million. The dispute was eventually settled, with Hailer returning $1.86 million in August 2022, $500,000 in October 2023, and the remaining $1.2 million in 2024. ¹⁹

In 2024, Mynett and Hailer were sued by a Washington, D.C.-area restaurant owner who alleged they defrauded him of $780,000 in connection with their wine business eStCru. The lawsuit claimed Mynett and Hailer promised 200 percent returns in 18 months and 10 percent monthly interest payments, which never materialized. Both Mynett and Hailer have denied the fraud allegations. ²⁰

Political Activities

E Street Group provided services to a handful of Democratic candidates and committees. In addition to Rep. Ilhan Omar, the campaigns of Rep. Debra Haaland, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) have all reported paying E Street Group for services. The Democratic National Committee, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and the Committee for a Livable Future also reported paying E Street. ¹¹ During the COVID-19 pandemic, E Street Group received $134,800 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and $500,000 in Economic Injury Disaster Loans. ²¹

Leadership

Tim Mynett and William Hailer are the co-founders of E-Street Group. Hailer previously worked as a senior advisor to former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez and as campaign manager for then-U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN). ¹⁹ Mynett is a political consultant and the husband of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). ¹⁶