Federal agents search Rep. Ilhan Omar's DC home in criminal probe
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C., home and seized 17 items.
Omar says she will move out for safety; no charge has been named.
Background
Ilhan Omar is the Democratic U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, the first Somali-American in Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress. She has long faced allegations that she married her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, for immigration purposes, and has been a frequent critic and target of President Donald Trump. The search came three weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
How it unfolded
- 1995Omar says she came to the U.S. with her family as refugees fleeing war-torn Somalia, when she was a minor.
- 2000Omar received U.S. citizenship after her arrival from Kenya.
- 2009She legally married a man named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
- 2017Omar and Elmi split.
- 2018She was elected to Congress.
- 2020She married her third husband, political consultant Tim Mynett.
- Oct 12, 2026Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar's Washington, D.C., home around 6 a.m. EDT as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation, seizing 17 items including cell phones, notebooks, a Somali-language children's book and a vintage camera.
- Oct 18, 2026A Times Union editorial criticized the Trump administration's investigation of Omar.
- Oct 22, 2026In her first interview since the search, with MS NOW, Omar said she can no longer live in her Washington, D.C., home for safety reasons.
- Oct 22, 2026Fox News Digital reported, citing two people familiar with the investigation including a law enforcement source, that Omar's real name is Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.
- Oct 24, 2026Hindustan Times reported Omar again rejected claims that her marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi involved immigration fraud.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Tom Homan confirmed a judge-signed search warrant was executed, saying the Department of Justice is leading the investigation with the Department of Homeland Security and declining to discuss specifics of the criminal investigation.
- Party
- Omar called the raid an outrageous abuse of power and a weaponisation of federal law enforcement to target political enemies, and said she is confident she did nothing wrong.
- Support
- Former President Barack Obama blasted the federal probe, saying in a lengthy statement that it was so appalling.
- Caution
- A Times Union editorial criticized the Trump administration's investigation of Omar, citing other political investigations as examples.
Still unverified
Fox News Digital, citing two people familiar with the investigation, reported Omar's real name is Ilhan Nur Said Elmi; Omar has publicly confirmed she does not have a birth certificate. Claims that she married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom detractors assert was her sibling, for immigration fraud have not been substantiated by publicly accessible documentation; Omar said any blood relationship was "not to my knowledge." A person familiar with the investigation told NBC News possible charges include conspiracy and making false statements in immigration paperwork, and a person briefed on the investigation told the AP that authorities are investigating potential fraud in her family's immigration paperwork and issued grand jury subpoenas to some relatives.