Rep. Ilhan Omar gave her first interview since federal agents searched her Washington, D.C. home earlier this month, denying allegations of immigration fraud and accusing the Trump administration of orchestrating a raid intended to intimidate her rather than gather evidence.
"I have a legal right to be a member of Congress," the Minnesota Democrat said in a Wednesday appearance on MS Now, pushing back on claims — promoted by figures in Trump's orbit, including some cabinet officials and online influencers — that she lied about her age when she immigrated to the United States as a refugee from Somalia in 1995, or that she entered a sham marriage with her brother to help him gain legal status in the country.
What Agents Took
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, backed by the Justice Department, searched Omar's residence on October 12 after a federal judge approved a search warrant, part of a criminal investigation examining whether Omar's family misrepresented her age during the immigration process decades ago. According to Omar's lawyers, agents seized roughly 17 personal items, including her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and her passport. Investigators have also issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of Omar's relatives, as the probe continues.
Omar's attorneys have demanded the return of the seized property and accused the Justice Department of failing to follow judicial instructions during the search, while also asking authorities to preserve any audio and video recordings made of the raid itself. No charges have been filed against Omar as of Wednesday's interview.
A Political Firestorm
The raid has drawn sharply divided reactions in Washington. Vice President JD Vance said there were "serious allegations" against Omar that warranted investigation, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the pre-dawn search an "extraordinary" step that should not have been taken inside 30 days of an election, an apparent reference to next month's midterms. Omar has represented Minnesota's fifth congressional district since 2019 and has frequently been a target of criticism from the president, who has at times questioned her loyalty to the United States.
Omar's defenders note that no formal charges have resulted from the investigation despite the aggressive tactics used to execute the search, and have characterized the probe as part of a broader pattern of the administration using federal law enforcement against its political critics. The Justice Department has not publicly detailed the evidence underlying the investigation beyond confirming that a grand jury process is underway.
