Federal Agents Search Ilhan Omar's Home Before Midterms
Homeland Security Investigations agents searched the home of Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar. The Justice Department cites an ongoing investigation, while Omar points to political pressure.
The US Justice Department confirmed that a court-approved search warrant was executed near Washington on Monday, October 12, and two people familiar with the case say the home belongs to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. The search came 22 days before the US midterm elections, in which voters choose a new Congress and Omar is seeking another term.
What is known about the search of Ilhan Omar’s home?
The search was carried out by agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of the US Department of Homeland Security. The street in front of the house was closed that morning, and agents stayed near the property. Fox News was the first to report it.
The Justice Department did not say the warrant concerned Omar and did not announce any charges. Its statement said only:
“This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House referred reporters to the Justice Department. The Justice Department has said nothing about the nature of the investigation.
What is known about the investigation behind the warrant?
One of the two sources familiar with the case told NBC News the search is part of a multiyear criminal investigation involving HSI, the federal prosecutor’s office in Minneapolis and the Justice Department. According to the same source, the investigation partly concerns immigration and fraud, but goes beyond that. That is the claim of a single anonymous source. Officially, only the existence of an ongoing investigation has been confirmed.
Omar represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis. She has served in the House since 2018 and is a member of the group of progressive congresswomen known as “the Squad.” As a child she fled Somalia during the civil war and spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before arriving in the US in the 1990s.
What has Vice President Vance said before?
Immigration fraud is a topic on which Omar has been named publicly for months. Vice President JD Vance told reporters in May:
“It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody’s entitled to equal justice under the laws. So we’re going to investigate it. We’re going to take a look at it. If we think there’s a crime, we’re going to prosecute that crime.”
In a conversation with conservative podcast host Benny Johnson, Vance claimed, without presenting evidence, that Omar committed immigration fraud, and said he and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller were weighing “legal remedies.” Republicans have claimed since before her first election that she committed immigration fraud and married her brother. She has dismissed those claims as “disgusting lies,” and her office called Vance’s claims fabricated and defamatory in March.
Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, told Fox News last month that the Department of Homeland Security is investigating Omar:
“If someone committed immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they’re a congressman or not, no one’s above the law. So I’ll leave it at that. We’ll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation.”
How did Omar, Trump and Democrats react?
On X, Omar described the search as an attempt to “target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” She also said Trump has spent the past decade targeting her with “baseless lies and smear campaigns,” and ended her post with the line: “I will not be silenced.”
President Donald Trump told reporters he had nothing to do with the search, but that investigators, as he put it, “are looking at her very carefully.” He added:
“I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ.”
House Democratic leaders Hakim Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar said in a joint statement that the search is “deeply disturbing and raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.” They vowed to demand accountability for the “rogue abuse of power” by the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department.
Why is the timing of the search under scrutiny?
The gap before the election is what puts the search under extra scrutiny. The Justice Department has a long-standing unwritten practice of being especially careful before elections with moves that could help or hurt a candidate. No rule bars action in the final 60 days, but written policy prohibits prosecutors and agents from timing investigative steps and public statements in a way that affects an election.
That guidance is not always followed. Former FBI Director James Comey announced a development in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails in 2016, 11 days before the presidential election. Late last month, the Justice Department’s inspector general recommended that leadership urgently issue guidance on actions that could “foreseeably affect an impending election.”
Trump also mentioned Omar and Somali immigrants at a rally in Tennessee last Saturday, where he said: “How about Ilhan Omar? She comes from Somalia.” As of publication, the Justice Department has not announced any charges against Omar.
