WASHINGTON − The Justice Department issued subpoenas to relatives of Rep. Ilhan Omar three days prior to the Oct. 12 search of her DC-area home, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The raid was related to an ongoing federal investigation into the progressive Democrat, two people familiar with the efforts told USA TODAY. Homeland Security agents were acting on a warrant tied to alleged immigration fraud and false statements in Omar's immigration documents, according to one of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.
Investigators are focused on two questions, the official said. One is whether the family misrepresented Omar’s age, and the other is whether her late father,
Nur Omar Mohamed, concealed details of his military career. Both lines of inquiry go back to whether she was allowed to derive citizenship from her father. The age question, however, "seems to be the key focus now," the official said.
The probe has enraged Democratic lawmakers and Omar herself, a yearslong political foe of President Donald Trump. Critics say the Justice Department's decision to break with precedent, raiding a lawmaker's home weeks before the midterm elections, is indicative of worsening politicization of the federal law enforcement apparatus.
Yet few details are known about the full extent of the government's efforts. And Trump denied having any personal involvement in or prior knowledge of the search of Omar's residence.
Representatives for Omar did not respond to a request for comment on the subpoenas, but the congresswoman herself has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Earlier this week, she described the search as an effort to "target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement."
The Department of Homeland Security referred questions about the matter to the Justice Department. The DOJ earlier this week confirmed only that the agency had "executed a judicially authorized search warrant" at a Washington-area home as "part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation."
Omar's path to citizenship
Omar’s path to citizenship started in Mogadishu, where she was the youngest of seven children. When she was 8, civil war engulfed Somalia and her family fled to Kenya, where they spent four years in a refugee camp before resettling in the United States. They eventually made their way to Cedar-Riverside in Minneapolis, the center of the largest Somali community in the country.
In 2000, she became a citizen through her father’s naturalization. She was 17, according to the birth year in her official biography, which made her young enough to derive citizenship through him. Children who are 18 or older do not qualify.
Doubts about her age have followed her for years. A video that spread across conservative social media in 2019 alleged she had been 18 when her father applied. The theory resurfaced with reports that her staff, shortly after she arrived in Congress, asked Minnesota officials to change her birth year in public records from 1981 to 1982.
No evidence has emerged that she or her father misstated her age to immigration authorities.
Omar has long been one of Trump’s favorite targets. Some of his supporters, including Republican elected officials, have called for her to be stripped of her citizenship and deported. Unproven claims about her marriage history have circulated online for just as long.
Lately, those claims have come from the top of the administration. In a podcast interview in March, Vice President JD Vance alleged, without evidence, that Omar "definitely committed immigration fraud." In May, he told reporters that "something fishy" seemed to be going on and that the Justice Department would look into it. Last month, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the investigation was continuing and dismissed accusations that it was political retribution.
The investigation comes as the administration aggressively pursues a once-rare legal tool, stripping naturalized Americans of their citizenship. Last year, the Justice Department told its lawyers to "maximally pursue" denaturalization cases and set a goal of filing 250 by this month.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ilhan Omar's family members subpoenaed in ongoing federal investigation
