Democrats call the Omar search an abuse of power, and Trump denies involvement. No charges have been announced.
WASHINGTON – Federal agents searched the Washington-area home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., early Monday as part of a criminal investigation, the Justice Department said, and Democrats condemned the search as an abuse of power 22 days before the midterm elections. The department said Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant that it had secured, and described the action as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The statement did not name Omar or say what the inquiry involves. No charges have been announced.
Fox News reported that agents arrived around 6 a.m., and CNN observed investigators carrying boxes out of the home later in the morning. Fox News, CBS News and ABC News, citing sources, reported that the investigation relates to immigration paperwork completed by Omar’s late father when she was a child. Sources told CBS that investigators are examining possible false statements and immigration fraud. A person familiar with the case told NBC News it is a yearslong investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis and the Justice Department. That person said it involves whistleblowers, documents and witness testimony, and extends beyond immigration and fraud. Officials have not publicly said what prompted the search, and accounts differ on which agency leads. White House border czar Tom Homan told Fox News the Justice Department leads with the Department of Homeland Security, while CBS sources said Homeland Security Investigations leads with Justice Department assistance.
A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that top Justice Department leadership approved the search after careful deliberation because of its closeness to the election, and that a federal judge authorized it. CBS reported, citing sources, that Attorney General Todd Blanche was personally aware of the search and that the department’s Public Integrity section was consulted. Homan said he did not want to get ahead of Blanche on the investigation. The Associated Press reported that the department has historically avoided public investigative steps involving a candidate within 60 days of an election, and CNN called the step unusual. Omar, who denies wrongdoing, is seeking a fifth term in the House on Nov. 3.
Omar wrote on X that she was okay and “will not be silenced.” She called the search an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement, and said Trump has targeted her with lies and smear campaigns for a decade. Her office described the search as an unprecedented escalation. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a joint statement that they would work to hold DHS and the Justice Department accountable for what they called a rogue abuse of power. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called it an outrageous escalation, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Trump is abusing his power ahead of an election. Xochitl Hinojosa, a former Justice Department public affairs director, criticized the timing.
Trump told reporters outside the White House on Monday that he had nothing to do with the search and that the matter was up to the Justice Department. He called Omar a terrible person and said he understood authorities were looking at her very carefully. At a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, that night, Trump criticized Omar and Minnesota’s Somali community, and the crowd chanted “deport,” according to Fox News. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Omar should be stripped of her citizenship and deported if fraud were proven. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the Justice Department. Congress is not in session, and it was not clear whether Omar was home during the search.
Homan confirmed in September that Omar was under criminal investigation, and Omar said then that she had not been contacted and that she is not above the law. Al Jazeera reported that Trump suggested in January that the Justice Department was examining Omar’s wealth. Republicans have pushed unproven allegations of immigration fraud against Omar for years, and she has dismissed them, the Star Tribune reported. Omar, 44, was born in Somalia and was first elected to Congress in 2018.