Federal agents seized Rep. Ilhan Omar’s phone while searching her Washington home this week, and investigators have issued roughly a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to family members, according to people familiar with an investigation into possible immigration fraud.
The subpoenas are tied to a federal grand jury in Minnesota. Investigators are examining possible conspiracy and false statements on immigration paperwork, according to one person familiar with the case. Omar herself was not subpoenaed, and agents have sought to interview her sister but have not reached her.
The developments follow Monday’s search of Omar’s home, which marked a public escalation of an investigation into her family’s immigration records. As detailed in our earlier coverage, the inquiry includes paperwork submitted by her late father when the family sought legal status in the United States.
Homeland Security Investigations, federal prosecutors in Minneapolis and the Justice Department are handling the case. Investigators are drawing on documents, witness testimony and whistleblowers, with questions about Omar’s birthdate among the matters under review.
Omar came to the United States from Somalia with her family in the 1990s and became a citizen at 17. The inquiry is examining whether her age was accurately reported in paperwork connected to her citizenship. Omar has denied committing immigration fraud.
Her spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, and the Justice Department declined to comment. Omar accused the administration Monday of using law enforcement against its political opponents.
“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. 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,” she wrote.
The search occurred about three weeks before the midterms, drawing scrutiny over the Justice Department’s longstanding practice of avoiding public investigative steps that could influence an election. The age of the immigration records also could complicate a prosecution, depending on the offenses pursued and applicable deadlines.
Asked Monday whether he knew about the search beforehand, President Donald Trump said federal officials were examining Omar “very carefully.” He offered no details about the investigation but renewed his criticism of the Minnesota Democrat.
“Then she comes over here and she complains about our Constitution,” Trump said. “I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ.”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had signaled possible action last month, saying “something’s going to happen” while investigators continued their work. He maintained that any prosecution would rest on evidence of wrongdoing.
“If we actually move a case forward, it’s not a political case,” Mullin said. “It’s an actual case because they did things wrong. If you decided to break the law or lie [about] the information you gave the United States to be able to come into the United States through either asylum or because you were just wanting to seek a better life, but you didn’t tell us who you actually were, you lied about certain things about your application — those things, there’s no expiration to that.”
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