WASHINGTON – Rep. Ilhan Omar hasn’t responded publicly to federal agents searching her house, but she posted a defiant video on social media featuring criticism of President Donald Trump and reporters.
“The difference between the president and I is that I was raised to be a decent human being and my faith teaches me to have compassion, and he lacks both of those things,” Omar, D-Minnesota, said in one of several clips linked together.
In another clip, she tells a reporter her questions are “silly.” And in another, she tells a reporter her “brain has been fried.”
The video came a day after investigators from the Department of Homeland Security searched her Washington, DC, home. The reason for the search wasn’t clear, but administration officials
have long accused the lawmaker, who was born in Somalia, of immigration fraud, which she denies.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told Fox News on Oct. 13 that her office is investigating Omar for several issues, including immigration and financial disclosure reports.
Pirro said a judge signed the warrant, showing there was enough probable cause to search her house.
“Based upon that execution of that warrant we’ll see what comes of it,” Pirro said. “There is no question that that judge would not have signed that warrant unless there was probable cause, and probably more than that, given the individual who is involved.”
The bipartisan Office of Congressional Conduct investigated Omar after she filed a financial disclosure report with Congress that appeared to show her income skyrocketed up to $30 million through her spouse's stake in a California winery and a venture capital firm. But she called the figure a mistake based on an accounting error and the inquiry was dropped.
Pirro said the congressional findings were irrelevant to her criminal probe.
Trump told reporters Oct. 12 he didn’t have anything to do with the search.
"I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ,” Trumps said. “I have nothing to do with it."
Omar’s office released a statement calling the search “an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.”
“The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong,” the statement said. “No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Ilhan Omar posts defiant video after federal search of her home
