Ilhan Omar says US agents seized items in raid
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The gist
Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home for hours and seized 17 items.
Omar says she will move out over death threats after the raid.
Background
Ilhan Omar is a Democratic U.S. Representative from Minnesota, in Congress since 2018 and born in Somalia. Homeland Security Investigations agents searched her Washington, D.C. home in a federal criminal investigation that, per reporting, examines possible false statements about her age on citizenship paperwork and related fraud. The search follows multiple comments from officials casting doubt on the citizenship she received in 2000 after arriving from Kenya, and it came shortly before the November midterm elections.
How it unfolded
- Oct 12, 2026At around 06:00 EDT, between 15 and 25 Homeland Security Investigations agents encircled Omar's Washington, D.C. home, searched for roughly four to five hours and seized 17 items, including cellphones, notebooks, a Somali children's book and a vintage camera belonging to her husband. Agents also seized her phone, laptops, notebooks and passport, and more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas were issued to relatives.
- Oct 16, 2026Omar's lawyers, Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, sent a letter to federal prosecutors demanding the return of seized property, calling the search "neither justified nor lawful."
- Oct 18, 2026Former President Barack Obama posted on X calling the probe "so appalling."
- Oct 21, 2026Omar said in an MS NOW interview she will move out of her Washington, D.C. home because of death threats and the exposure of her address.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Omar called the investigation "an outrageous abuse of power" and "weaponisation of federal law enforcement to target political enemies," while her lawyers said the search was "neither justified nor lawful" and politically motivated ahead of the election.
- Official
- President Trump said the investigation has "nothing to do with me" and called Omar a "terrible person"; White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said Trump has not weaponized the Justice Department against political foes.
- Support
- Former President Obama said "the full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president."
- Analysts
- Former U.S. Attorney John Fishwick said the search warrant means a judge found probable cause of evidence of criminal activity, and that even a civil revocation of citizenship could lead to deportation; border czar Tom Homan said investigators have a "strong case."
Still unverified
The government has not said what crime Omar is accused of, only that the raid was part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation, and the full scope remains unclear. Anonymous sources reported that family text messages from a seized sister's phone were used to convince a judge to authorize the raid; the Justice Department did not confirm the seizure. Claims that Omar married her brother for immigration purposes have circulated for years, and Obama described as "unsubstantiated" the theory that she was 18 when her father was naturalized.