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WASHINGTON: Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic US 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.<\/p>\n
The search of the Minnesota congresswoman\u2019s home so close to next month\u2019s 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 separately that she was being targeted as one of the Republican\u2019s \u201cpolitical enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n The nature and scope of the investigation were 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 US and left-wing views have drawn scrutiny from the White House and other Republicans. <\/p>\n Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month cited an \u201congoing investigation\u201d that he suggested was examining potential fraud on her family\u2019s immigration paperwork. \u201cSomething\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In a statement on X on Monday, Omar called the search an \u201cattempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,\u201d she said. \u201cI will not be silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the Republican focus on Omar\u2019s background dates back years, the search notably took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is on the ballot for 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 \u201ccontinued corrupt weaponization\u201d of law enforcement against Trump\u2019s perceived adversaries.<\/p>\n \u201cFor years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations,\u201d said a joint statement issued from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other top congressional Democrats. \u201cNow, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump referenced Omar as recently as this past weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n The search was carried out by agents with Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n 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. It provided no other details.<\/p>\n The street around Omar\u2019s home was blocked off Monday morning as HSI agents carried out the search, with some removing boxes from \u201cseized property evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n The operation came just two days after Trump referred pejoratively to Omar at a rally in Tennessee as coming from a country of \u201ccrime and squalor\u201d and suggested that Vice President JD Vance \u201cand our people\u201d were investigating her.<\/p>\n Vance has in the past accused Omar of committing immigration fraud, an allegation she has denied, and has said that the White House was looking for pathways to investigate her.<\/p>\n Omar has long been a target for Republicans<\/strong><\/p>\n Omar, who was first elected to the House in 2018, represents Minnesota\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Republicans have raised questions about Omar\u2019s past since before she was even elected, including asserting that she had married her brother and committed immigration fraud. Omar has broadly denied the allegations as \u201cdisgusting lies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody\u2019s entitled to equal justice under the laws,\u201d Vance told reporters in May. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to investigate it. We\u2019re going to take a look at it. If we think there\u2019s a crime, we\u2019re going to prosecute that crime. And that\u2019s something the Department of Justice is looking at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview last March with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, Vance said without offering evidence that \u201cwe actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n Omar\u2019s office at the time dismissed Vance\u2019s claims as fabricated and defamatory, saying in a statement that, \u2018\u201cThis is rich coming from someone who literally said they were willing to \u2018create stories\u2019 to redirect the media.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n Last month, when the podcaster Johnson reminded Mullin about Vance\u2019s past comments on Omar and asked whether anything would happen as a result of that investigation, the Homeland Security secretary responded: \u201cSomething\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n He cited an \u201congoing investigation\u201d that he suggested was looking at potential fraud in the family\u2019s immigration paperwork.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we actually move a case forward, it\u2019s not a political case. It\u2019s actually a case because they did things wrong,\u201d Mullin said. \u201cIf you decided to break the law or law on the information that you gave to the United States…there\u2019s no expiration to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n