The campaign of Antone Melton-Meaux, who is challenging Rep. Ilhan Omar in the Fifth District DFL primary, has paid almost $100,000 to two newly established Delaware corporations for “strategic consulting,” but has refused to disclose what specifically the firms are doing for the campaign or who is involved in the firms.
The two companies, North Superior Consulting LLC and Lake Point Consulting LLC, were registered in Delaware in late 2019. Neither appears to have a website or any presence at all online, nor do the firms appear in campaign finance records of other candidates. The companies would normally be required to list their directors on their corporate tax filings, but neither firm filed its Delaware taxes on time, instead incurring fines.
The only name MinnPost was able to uncover connected with the companies was that of K. Davis Senseman, a Minneapolis attorney who served as Omar’s campaign treasurer in 2018 and went on to join Omar’s office as district director, but resigned in July of the first year of Omar’s term. Senseman is listed as the submitter of the document forming North Superior, and Senseman’s law firm, Davis Law Office PLLC, is listed on the document forming Lake Point, according to records obtained from the Delaware Secretary of State.
In response to questions about the registrations and any involvement with Melton-Meaux’s campaign, Senseman said, “Davis Law Office has no involvement with any campaign and legally we can not comment on any companies we may have registered for clients of DLO.”
When asked what North Superior and Lake Point were doing for his campaign, Melton-Meaux said he did not know and that he would get back to MinnPost. His campaign communications director later provided a statement saying, “They are both strategic communications firms that provide strategic counsel for the campaign.”
The campaign later added, “Both Lake Point Consulting LLC and North Superior Consulting LLC are communications and strategy consulting firms that work largely outside of politics, with very limited political experience. Both organizations aren’t affiliated with the DFL, and are people that Antone knows and who were referred to his campaign by supporters.” Melton-Meaux’s campaign manager also claimed to have signed nondisclosure agreements with the companies that prevented them from revealing any further information.
Scott Thomas, a former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and Melton-Meaux’s campaign’s finance attorney, told MinnPost that “strategic consulting” is an adequate descriptor.
“The FEC would say, if you just put down for the payment as being for consulting, ‘That’s not an adequate disclosure,’ but if you put something down like strategic consulting, that’s basically a clue in the campaign finance world,” Thomas said. “This is someone who is involved with helping the campaign with its strategy.” As for the NDA in place between the campaign and the two companies, Thomas said that NDAs like those are put in place “because the person might be someone who is working for all sorts of different clients. And there can be some tension created with clients if the same consultant goes over and works for some other client.”
For Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform at the Campaign Legal Center, the campaign’s response falls short. “The law requires campaigns to file itemized reports of their spending so that the public can assess candidates and make informed decisions,” he said. Omar’s campaign, for example, has faced scrutiny after disclosing her payments to her now-husband’s firm, E Street Group LLC.
“It sounds like [Melton-Meaux’s] campaign is not only failing to provide meaningful disclosure on campaign finance reports, but also refusing to answer any questions about the nature of the disbursements,” Fischer said.
Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to reduce the role of money in politics, said nondisclosure agreements between campaigns and consultants have become “increasingly common,” but that the whole situation sounds “atypical” and is “really keeping people at a loss for how the money is really being spent and who’s calling the shots.”
“It’s very problematic when voters don’t get the full story about opaque entities that are actively involved in the support or opposition of candidates on the ballot,” Beckel said. “And it’s the sad reality right now that there’s a number of situations in which we’re not learning the information that we should until long after election day.”
I had never heard of Melton-Meaux before the previous article about him, but since, I have noticed my mail has been flooded with glossy, expensive advertising, which is very vague about what he stands for, and is borderline disingenuous and quite aggressive about Ilhan Omar. It says it is coming directly from his campaign, which makes me think there is some very big money behind him, but no indication where that money is coming from, which makes me very suspicious.
I have the same experience & view. Nothing I’ve seen from this guy inspires me to support him over the incumbent.
Same here. He’s big on slick brochures, but pretty light on policy.
Antone’s positions on most issues are well set forth on his website:
https://antoneforcongress.com/issues/
Melton-Meaux’s biggest advantage is being able to show that he is there to do the job and avoid Omar like drama.
This does not help that.
I get that Omar has said anti Semitic things that will turn out donations for her opponent, regardless of who that opponent is.
If I were a Jewish constituent in St Louis Park I would not feel too good about my representation in congress. If I were a politically active Jew in NY I would support her opponent.
Melton Meaux benefits from that and should not have to defend getting those contributions.
He does need to demonstrate a squeaky clean ethics image or we might as well keep Omar.
I would just point out the fact that while some people have classified some of Omar’s comments as anti Semitic, may other’s disagree. I haven’t seen any comments that I would classify as anti Semitic, but as a lifelong resident of SLP, with a Jewish sister, I wouldn’t claim to speak on behalf of all Jews either in NY, or the 5th.
Rep Omar has taken more heat than she should for her valid criticisms of the money AIPAC is pumping into Congress. In my view, following the money & how it becomes a motivating factor for congresspeople is exactly the sort of thing our representatives should do. To say that all jewish people should support her opponent(s) is as insulting as the slight she is unjustly accused of making.
Set up the straw man and knock him down.
I am just saying it is likely that many Jews are having trouble with the comments of Omar.
Just like Nancy Pelosi and 400+ members of congress in their motion against her words.
My basic point remains:
If I am a politically active Jew in NY and with resources and take offense to Omar’s actions and decide to contribute to Melton Meaux it does not mean Melton Meaux automatically endorses and inherits all the views of that contributor.
And my first point also includes:
If Melton Meaux takes those contributions and is not forthcoming about campaign expenditures:
RE-ELECT OMAR!
Because they both then seem to only be:
“All about the Benjamins, baby!”
I guess its fair game. Omar paid far more than that to her husband’s consulting firm.
Sure, but we know how much Omar paid to her husbands firm because she filed the proper paperwork, and has provided the documents.
I guess the way you hang on to your money is to marry it.
A lot more money is going into the fifth district congressional campaign than is really appropriate. Democrats should not waste their money on safe seats.
Kinda makes one wonder whether Dems are the ones pumping money into this race.
You also need to “get” that Rep. Omar apologized for the insensitive remarks, Edward, as that bears directly on the entire upshot of the comments. Universal human rights and advocating forcefully for such rights can encompass both the rights of the citizens of the State of Israel and the Palestinians, there’s no contradiction, rather the contrary is true.
Your hypothetical suggesting that “if you were a Jewish constituent in St. Louis Park, ” you, imagining yourself in their shoes, would evidently oppose Omar is itself a very strange one, suggesting that you view all Jews who are voters there as some kind of monolithic ideological bloc.
Given the context of the discussion you might want to reconsider that stance.
I feel like Omar’s apologies have been empty. She apologizes, does it again, then apologizes again. Her remarks and disposition have shown that she’s maybe more of a showboat than serious. Her vote against the Armenian genocide by Turkey was the last straw for me. I’m done with her and I was one of her strongest supporters in 2018. Not everyone is cut out for the national stage. She’s one of them.
I would be interested in your thinking about Ms. Omar’s vote on the Armenia resolution. At first I was quite troubled; I read about it, my spouse and I thought thru it, and I’m now agnostic. And though of course I can’t know the reason she can’t explain her vote more fully, it may be the same reason that she voted as she did – as a matter of conjecture, the significant flow of Turkish financial and technical support to Somalia, which may be important to a large part of her constituency and which Erdogan can turn off with a snap of his fingers.
Keep in mind, also, the features of this particular matter: an action of high symbolic freighting, to which Ms. Omar’s vote was substantively meaningless, and for which her failure to vote stood out due to the near-unanimity. Our representatives in legislative bodies cast myriad votes that are counterintuitive on the surface, and embody a pragmatic consideration. We never hear of them, or dismiss them. Caucus leaders regularly allow “free” votes that a member needs for a local reason. Perhaps Ms. Omar’s vote was different only in that, although meaningless, it arose in a dramatic setting tailor-made to feature in Mr. Melton-Meaux’s glossy brochure.
I have’t seen very much Omar needs to apologize for, and I’ve found her apologies more than adequate.
NDA’s should be prohibited in these scenarios. Politicians and campaign managers are adults, they know they people they hire work of other people, and consultants that work for everyone brag about it, they don’t keep it secret.
In this scenario, both of these companies were likely set up specifically to work on AMM’s campaign, so they likely have to other clients to shield, so what are they really hiding and why?
This seems to be a story with no meat. What is wrong with strategic consulting?
Omar, in contrast, denied relationship with man she then married, whom her campaign still pays a huge amount. She misrepresented her marriage for tax benefits, and later amended her returns. She has repeatedly apologized for anti-Semitic comments and then made very similar tone deaf remarks.
Most of all, she does not do her job to represent her district. I voted for her and wanted to support her with all my heart, but I am disillusioned. She does not have the substance of AOC. Although I support many of her policies, I think she has failed us.
Yes, and AMM whos’ promising so much less… will soooo much more successful.
This sounds awfully FISHY. I was looking at Anton’s as an alternative to all the Ilhan Omar controversies. But I am not seeing a lot of specifics from his campaign and he better get on top of whatever funny business this is because its sounding a lot like Omar’s campaign giving heaps of dough to her now husband.
Melton-Meaux claims to be a progressive but his position on health care is that he opposes Medicare for All and only wants to make some change to primary care. In other words, not much change.
Down in Mankato, I’m getting deluged by M-M’s TV commercials.
Clearly there’s big money behind him, and where there’s big money there are obligations.
And as others have been pointing out, he has been short on policy statements and commitments.
Since I’m not in his district, as they say I have no dog in this fight, but as a Jew I object to someone riding on my identity.
Omar has her flaws, but one thing she is not is sneaky.
Many of us recognized that Omar was in over her head before she was even elected to the 5th Ward. Unfortunately our collective hunch was right. But that does not push me over into her competitor’s camp, in spite of her cowardly Armenia non-vote. She is still raising important issues – and has the courage to criticize Israel – and I appreciate that.
I cannot help but think back to another “first” – Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play baseball in the major leagues, signed and advised by Dodgers’ owner Branch Rickey. Robinson came in understanding very clearly what he was to do: be a model human being, play excellent baseball, ignore the insults, and show white America that he was just as good as any of the rest of them (in fact, a good deal better than many). In this manner, Jackie Robinson was able to disarm racists around the country and provide a major leap forward for blacks in general.
Omar is the first black and the first Muslim and the first Somali many people in the country have met. I often wish she’d had a Branch Rickey whispering in her ear. She could’ve done such a good service to other Muslims, Somalis and women of color who will follow her.
There’s a debate on Monday, July 20th at 8:00 between Antone and Omar (and the other Democratic primary candidates) sponsored by the League of Women Voters. You can live stream it, and even submit questions in advance by July 19th. Why not listen to the candidates themselves–maybe that will make some of this more clear. Link to information here:
https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_post/free/league-of-women-voters-to-host-congressional-district-5-primary-debates-july-20/article_53196f82-bfaa-11ea-8e42-f3043c5e4aa7.html
M-M is clearly a puppet, the question is who is pulling his strings.
Delaware is well known as a home for corporations who want to keep a low profile.
While I am not in his district, if he were to be elected (and the primary may functionally be the election in a heavily DFL district) he would be representing all citizens, not just his district, so we all have a stake in this election.
Let’s not miss the main points here: this guy has come out of nowhere, with no progressive issues to discuss and really NOT as progressive as Omar routinely is (Nancy Pelosi is in her corner!), and he’s starting out with very problematic secretiveness. Lack of transparency from the get-go? Please!
Omar is sometimes maladroit in how she puts things (English is not her native language, after all) But on Israel, her tin ear should not hide the fact that she is criticizing the right-wing Israeli government ofr its anti-Palestinian actions, its unfairness and even cruelty. That’s not anti-Semitic. It’s anti right-wing Israeli government actions.
Let’s ignore this mysteriously-funded newbie and stick with a woman who may continue to grow in office. She votes with progressives all the time.
Yes, thank you, Connie. In her first term, Ms. Omar was named as whip for the 95-some-member Progressive Caucus, suggesting that her colleagues see in her the energy, savvy and ability to move a progressive agenda forward. She is well-regarded among progressive colleagues for what she has done in her first term, and she is not afraid to say uncomfortable things that need to be said. If, in her very first term, she is untidy in navigating under the microscope under which she almost uniquely has been placed, how about we give her another two years to see if her sophistication advances. It is a leap to say that because one is dissatisfied at how Ms. Omar explains herself, we should turn one of the most progressive congressional seats in the country over to an unknown individual on whom Republicans, Wall Street and the Democratic establishment are lavishing dollars as fast as they can be printed.
North Superior and Lake Point are interesting names for Delaware businesses. Maybe they have been established to exploit northern Minnesota’s natural resources and need government approval to do so.
There is nothing particularly unusual or suspicious about a corporation being incorporated in Delaware. I believe there are over 1 million companies incorporated in the First State, and most of them probably have no physical presence there.
Good point to watch the Monday debate and hopefully others before August 11. The term “progressive” gets thrown around as if it is a binary term- you are or you aren’t. It is a continuum and just not because one isn’t at the far end of whatever a progressive might be, doesn’t make him a non-progressive. Try to look beyond the issues to ability to get things done and yes, work with less progressives in a collaborative way. Introducing 35 or so “whopping bills”, as Ilhan prides herself, most of which will never see the light of day, is not getting things done.
This guy is well funded by pro Israeli groups and corrupted organization in order to topple this congresswoman and he is so desperate that some his advertisement are rude and ridiculous about Ilhan Omar. He is being used as a fake progressive and I don’t believe anyone who is desperate and is well funded by republican or corrupted organization. As a Bernie supporter, my family and I will vote for Biden and Ilhan. Moscow Mitch will also be defeated by Mcgrath, can’t wait until these corrupted leaders removed from office.As Doctor Trump claimed that the virus is going to disappear, it hasn’t disappeared and took the lives of so many innocent Americans including the life of my uncle and we need to vote this election as our lives depends on it. Thanks
It is troubling that pro-Israel groups contribute so much to U.S. political candidates. It is as if Israel were contributing directly. I wonder how pro-UK or pro-Russia group contributions would be perceived.
Like most Minnesotan’s, I’m concerned that Mr. Melton-Meaux came out of no where and has raised over $3.2 Million to use in his daily commercial ads. I’m thinking he has ties to some right wing organizations, who’d love to knock Ms. Ohan out of Congress. My feeling he’s a plant to dislodge Omar from Congress. The Truth will set us Free! I think we need to learn more about Antone Melton-Meaux? Peace & Power to all People! JJB
“…signed nondisclosure agreements with the firms preventing them from revealing any further information on them.” How convenient. I don’t know why more campaigns don’t do this and avoid all that pesky reporting and disclosing and such. There’s a Republican in Ohio that could have saved himself a lot of grief had he been as savvy as this newcomer.
I don’t know where all of Antone’s money is coming from but I do know not a small portion is coming from the Republican side. PACs that are donating to him have also donated to the likes of Mitch McConnell and Lyndsey Graham, but I don’t even need to know that, all I need to know has been sent to me on nearly a daily basis from his campaign. Slick glossy flyers, seriously almost every day. Today’s version told me, once again, what a horrible person Ilhan Omar is. All the same criticisms, half-truths and innuendo that Republicans have been throwing at her are appearing in his slick glossy flyers. I am half expecting the next one to tell me she married her brother. He may not be a Republican plant, but he’s doing a great impression of one.