Federal agents seized Rep. Ilhan Omar’s passport, cellphone, notebooks and personal computers during a raid on the Minnesota Democrat’s Washington, D.C., home, as the Trump administration investigates whether it can build a case to strip her of her U.S. citizenship.
The items were taken during a court-authorized search early Monday, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported that Omar and her husband were the only people home when Homeland Security investigators arrived.
Authorities have also reportedly issued more than a dozen subpoenas, including to members of Omar’s family, as a Minnesota grand jury examines the family’s immigration paperwork. The federal investigation is aimed at ultimately revoking Omar’s citizenship and deporting her, the Journal reported Wednesday.
Monday’s search was part of a probe into whether Omar or her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, lied or provided misleading information in the 1990s when he sought legal status in the U.S., before the two became American citizens.
Asked about the raid, President Donald Trump, who has claimed without evidence that Omar married her brother, denied any involvement in the investigation.
“I’ve always found her to be totally crooked, personally,” Trump said hours after the raid. “But that has nothing to do with me. I think she’s a terrible person, just a complainer. She comes from a country that is a non-country. And then she comes over here and she complains about our Constitution. I think she’s a terrible person.”
Citing U.S. officials and others familiar with the probe, the Journal reported that investigators are focused on whether Omar or her father, who fled war-torn Somalia, altered her age on her citizenship application to show she was 17 instead of 18.
The distinction is critical. Had Omar been 17 at the time, her citizenship would have been granted automatically along with her father’s. If she was 18, however, she would have been required to go through the naturalization process on her own.
Omar’s father brought her to the U.S. in 1995, and she became a citizen in 2000.
Stripping a naturalized citizen of citizenship is no simple matter. The Department of Justice must file a lawsuit and prove in federal court that the individual lied in order to obtain citizenship.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Jeanne Pirro took the unusual step of disclosing that her office has opened “several investigations” into Omar, who is up for reelection next month.
Omar wasted no time firing back after the raid, accusing the president of trying to “weaponize federal law enforcement.”
“I will not be silenced,” she declared.
A number of other prominent Democrats also rallied to Omar’s side, criticizing the search of her home.
The investigation now hangs over the congresswoman as she heads into her reelection fight, with a grand jury in Minnesota continuing to examine her family’s immigration records and federal authorities weighing whether they can make their case in court.
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