Federal agents searched the Washington home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, early on Monday. The search came about three weeks before the midterm elections. It came as part of what the Justice Department called a criminal investigation.
The department has said little else. Omar and her office call it political retaliation. The administration says the matter is for prosecutors.
What is known
According to the Associated Press, citing two people familiar with the matter, agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) carried out the search. A Justice Department statement said HSI executed a “judicially authorized search warrant secured by the department” as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. It gave no other details, the AP reported.
Axios reported that a DOJ spokesperson confirmed the search was part of an ongoing probe, and that DHS referred questions to the Justice Department. PBS NewsHour reported that agents were seen carrying boxes from the home to an unmarked car. It said the reason for the search had not been made public.
Fox News, citing a source familiar with the operation, reported that the search began around 6 a.m. It said the investigation concerns Omar’s immigration paperwork, which it said her late father filled out when she was a child. The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed that account. Axios also attributed the immigration link to Fox’s reporting. White House border czar Tom Homan told Fox Business that a warrant was served but gave no specifics, according to the Star Tribune.
Omar has not been charged with anything, and none of the sources describe the scope of any alleged offense.
Omar’s response
Omar confirmed the search and called it “the latest escalation” in what she described as President Donald Trump’s campaign of political intimidation against her, the AP reported. On social media she wrote that the move was an attempt to target political enemies and to weaponize federal law enforcement.
Her spokesperson, Jacklyn Rogers, went further in a statement quoted by Axios. She called the raid an “outrageous abuse of power” and an unprecedented escalation. Fox News reported that Omar described the allegations as baseless lies.
The administration’s position
Trump told reporters at the White House that the search “has nothing to do with me,” according to CNN. He said it was up to the Justice Department. He also called Omar “a terrible person” and, in comments CNN quoted, said he had “always found her to be a totally crooked person.” Asked by reporters whether he knew in advance, he said authorities were looking at her “very carefully,” Axios reported.
Omar has long been a target of Trump’s public attacks, and she has criticized the immigration crackdown in her home state. Axios described the search as a substantial escalation in that fight.
Questions about norms
The Star Tribune reported that former federal prosecutors said the search broke with long-standing political and legal norms. Justice Department practice has generally been cautious about overt investigative steps close to an election, though the sources reviewed here did not detail the specific policy. The paper did not say whether this search violated any written rule.
The warrant was approved by a judge, which the Justice Department stressed. The contents of the application have not been released. The public does not yet know what evidence prosecutors presented or what crime they allege.
PBS NewsHour’s guest Devlin Barrett of the New York Times said the administration had signaled for months that it might take such a step. The transcript summary does not spell out what had been signaled.
Political stakes
Omar is running for re-election in a heavily Democratic Minnesota district, where Fox News said she faces a Republican challenger. The search lands as both parties fight over control of Congress. Democrats are likely to cast it as a use of federal power against an opponent. Republicans can point to the court-approved warrant and the DOJ’s account of a criminal inquiry.
Next steps depend on prosecutors. They could seek charges, continue investigating or close the matter. Any court filings unsealed later would show the basis for the warrant.