Federal agents searched the Washington-area home of Democratic Rep Ilhan Omar in a move that ignited accusations of political retaliation and intensified President Donald Trump’s long-running feud with one of his fiercest critics.
Officials said the search was conducted as part of a criminal investigation, a development that marks a sharp escalation in the confrontation between Mr Trump and the outspoken Minnesota congresswoman.
Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz said Mr Trump was “abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election.”
Ms Omar said she was “ok” after the operation, but argued the administration was targeting political opponents just three weeks before she seeks re-election in the 3 November midterms.
Ilhan Omar has been a fierce critic of the Trump administration
The early morning search – described by Mr Trump’s ‘border czar’ Tom Homan as part of a longstanding probe – was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of US immigration enforcement.
“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Ms Omar wrote on X.
“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.”
Democrats reacted angrily, charging that Mr Trump was misusing the machinery of government to pursue opponents.
Fox News reported the search was tied to a criminal fraud investigation involving immigration paperwork submitted on behalf of the Somali-born congresswoman by her late father when she was a child.
‘She’s a disaster’, says Trump of Ilhan Omar after home raid
Questioned about Ms Omar hours after the search, the president said investigators were looking into her case “very carefully.”
“I’ve always found her to be totally crooked personally, 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,” he told reporters at the White House.
The Justice Department said in a statement that agents executed a “judicially authorised search warrant” in the Washington area, without naming Ms Omar or detailing the focus of the inquiry.
“This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” prosecutors added.
Ms Omar has been an unrelenting critic of Mr Trump, especially over his administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
The Republican president has repeatedly sparred with Ms Omar, who immigrated to the United States from Somalia as a child and has often been singled out in his political attacks.
Political backlash
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team called the search “deeply disturbing” and questioned “the continued corrupt weaponisation of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.”
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace, meanwhile, said Ms Omar should be stripped of her US citizenship and deported if fraud was proven.
“NO ONE is above the law,” she wrote on X.
Criticism also centred on the timing, with Xochitl Hinojosa, a former director of public affairs at the Justice Department, pointing to department norms.
“There’s a longstanding rule at DOJ that you don’t take overt actions like this before an election, especially when there’s a candidate on the ballot,” she wrote on X.
Democrats accused the administration of weaponising federal agencies
Ms Omar said in September that Homeland Security officials had not contacted her about any investigation, describing the claims against her as politically motivated.
First elected to Congress in 2018, she represents a district that includes Minneapolis, which is home to one of the largest Somali communities in the United States.
She belongs to “The Squad,” a group of left-wing Democratic lawmakers who have been among Mr Trump’s most outspoken opponents in Congress.
No charges against Ms Omar were announced in connection with the search.
