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Agents Search Rep. Omar's DC Home 10/13 06:19
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that
brings renewed focus to the frequent target of Trump administration derision in
the final weeks of her reelection bid.
The search of the Minnesota congresswoman's home so close to next month's
midterm contests that will determine control of the House and the Senate was
swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the
timing given longstanding Justice Department protocol to avoid overt
investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an
election. Omar, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, said she was
being targeted as one of the Republican's "political enemies."
The scope of the investigation was unclear, though Trump and officials in
his administration have repeatedly referred in recent months to the existence
of an inquiry into Omar, a Somali-born Democrat whose status as an immigrant to
the U.S. and left-wing views have drawn scrutiny from the White House and other
Republicans.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month cited an "ongoing
investigation" that he suggested was examining potential fraud in her family's
immigration paperwork. "Something's going to happen," he said in a potential
foreshadowing of the search.
In a statement on X on Monday, Omar called the search an "attempt to target
political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement."
"For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear
campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political
intimidation," she said. "I will not be silenced."
At a political rally in Ohio later Monday, Trump attacked Omar's Somali
origins, saying, "She's telling us about the Constitution, and she comes from
one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet." The crowd responded by
shouting, "Deport."
Though the Republican focus on Omar's background dates back years, the
search notably took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which
Omar is seeking reelection. The Justice Department has historically sought to
avoid public investigative actions involving a candidate within 60 days of a
primary or general election. Top Democrats seized on the timing as the latest
instance in what they said was the "continued corrupt weaponization" against
Trump's perceived adversaries.
"For years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted
Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations," said a
joint statement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other top
congressional Democrats. "Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election,
his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly
elected Member of Congress and her family."
Trump says he had "nothing to do" with search
The search was carried out by agents with Homeland Security Investigations,
which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
A DHS spokesperson referred questions to the Justice Department, which said
in a statement that HSI agents had executed a judicially authorized search
warrant in the Washington, D.C., area related to an ongoing federal criminal
investigation but provided no other details.
The street around Omar's home was blocked off Monday morning as some HSI
agents removed boxes labeled "Seized Property Evidence."
The operation came just days after Trump referred pejoratively to Omar at a
rally in Tennessee as coming from a country of "crime and squalor" and
suggested that Vice President JD Vance "and our people" were investigating her.
Hours after the search, Trump told reporters he had "nothing to do" with it and
it's "really up to the DOJ."
Trump suggested he didn't know what was happening with the investigation
even as he seemed to suggest that Omar was engaged in suspect behavior.
Vance has in the past accused Omar of committing immigration fraud, an
allegation she has denied, and has said the administration was looking for
pathways to investigate her.
Omar has long been a target for Republicans
Omar, who was first elected to the House in 2018, represents Minnesota's 5th
District, including Minneapolis. She is part of The Squad of progressive
lawmakers who are a vibrant political force on the left wing of Congress but
have also endured repeated attacks from Trump, dating back to his first term.
She was one of the first two Muslim-American women in the House and the first
African refugee to be elected to Congress.
When Republicans swept control of the House in 2023, they voted to oust Omar
from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her anti-Israel remarks.
In January, Trump lashed out at Omar during a rally in Iowa hours before an
assailant sprayed the congresswoman during her own town hall meeting in
Minneapolis with a substance that turned out to be vinegar. The attacker was
sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Omar has repeatedly refuted allegations about her marriage and immigration
status raised by conservative critics, even before she joined Congress.
According to her House biography, Omar has said she and her family fled
Somalia's civil war when she was 8: "The family spent four years in a refugee
camp in Kenya before coming to the United States in 1990s. In 1997, she moved
to Minneapolis with her family."
Conservative online sites have alleged that Omar married a brother to commit
immigration fraud. Omar has broadly denied the allegations as "disgusting lies"
and called the insinuation "absurd and offensive."
"It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody's entitled
to equal justice under the laws," Vance told reporters in May. "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. And that's something the Department
of Justice is looking at right now."
In an interview last March with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance
said without offering evidence that "we actually think that Ilhan Omar
definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America."
Omar's office at the time dismissed Vance's claims as fabricated and defamatory.
Last month, when the podcaster Johnson reminded Mullin about Vance's
comments on Omar and asked whether anything would happen from that
investigation, the Homeland Security secretary responded, "Something's going to
happen."
He cited an "ongoing investigation" that he suggested was examining
potential fraud in the family's immigration paperwork.
"If we actually move a case forward, it's not a political case. It's
actually a case because they did things wrong," Mullin said. "If you decided to
break the law or lie on the information that you gave to the United States, to
be able to come into the United States ... there's no expiration to that."
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