Top administration insiders have effectively declared her guilt in a probe that remains underway.
On Monday, CBS News reported that federal agents conducted a search of Washington, D.C., residence belonging to U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.), as part of an ongoing inquiry focusing on Omar’s immigration paperwork.
In a communication to the Associated Press, the Department of Justice stated that investigators from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)—a division within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tasked with pursuing federal cases involving immigration fraud and identity and benefits fraud—carried out a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an active federal criminal investigation.
The search warrant reportedly enumerates a sequence of potential immigration offenses under review, including misrepresentations and fraud in immigration filings, along with a general conspiracy charge, according to The New York Times. The Times reported that federal authorities are also examining whether Ms. Omar derived citizenship from a father who may have been ineligible for naturalization. Omar, in a statement, described the inquiry as an “outrageous abuse of power” and a “unprecedented escalation in weaponizing federal law enforcement to target political enemies,” insisting she has “done nothing wrong.”
Omar has been squarely in the Justice Department’s sights since January, when President Donald Trump announced that the department and Congress were examining the case of ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars.
Trump was referring to an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee, based on a 2025 financial disclosure form indicating she and her husband possessed assets valued between $6 million and $30 million—an amount that marked a notable rise from prior filings. Omar subsequently submitted an amended disclosure form showing assets valued at $18,004 to $95,000 after accounting for liabilities. Nonetheless, in September, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Office of Congressional Conduct—which reviews allegations against House members and staff—voted 5–1 to advocate dismissal of the allegations. The Journal noted investigators found no “substantial reason” to believe Omar reported false or incomplete information in her financial disclosures. Omar’s office told the Journal she didn’t catch the errors, which stemmed from erroneous valuations of her husband’s businesses, because she “isn’t involved in her husband’s enterprises and trusted the accountant involved.”
The Omar inquiry appears to be a facet of what some describe as the Trump administration’s weaponization of government—an accusation the president has vowed to end—adding to a roster that includes former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, former FBI Director James Comey, and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
Omar’s resistance to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, especially in her home state of Minnesota, and her Somali heritage have made her a frequent target for the president and his allies.
Last December, a federal indictment exposed a nearly $9 billion fraud scheme in Minnesota, with much of the activity tied to the state’s Somali immigrant population. In March, Vice President J.D. Vance—who leads the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force—told right-wing commentator Benny Johnson that Omar “definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.” Vance accused Omar of being at the heart of “some of the worst fraudsters in the Somali community.”
Vance reiterated his stance in May, telling White House reporters that the immigration fraud allegations were “something that the Department of Justice is looking at right now.” He seemed to retract from his March claim of definite guilt, noting that he did not wish to prejudge the investigation but it “certainly seems like something fishy is there.”
In September, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said to Johnson that the Omar case remained “ongoing,” and that the department was aware she had “married her brother to try to bring him into the United States.” Omar’s office has denied the accusations, which were first raised in 2016.
Mullin maintains that the investigation is “not political.” He could be telling the truth; federal investigators have scrutinized Omar before. In 2024, the Biden administration’s Justice Department opened an inquiry into Omar’s finances, campaign spending and interactions with a foreign national, according to The New York Times. The Times reported that the investigation ultimately stalled for lack of evidence.
Yet Mullin’s remarks are not easily accepted at face value. Even as he denies political motives behind weaponizing the justice system, the Trump administration has repeatedly invoked questionable legal rationales to probe its political adversaries. This pattern includes cases like that of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who, after prevailing against Trump in a financial-fraud suit, was indicted for mortgage fraud by the Trump Justice Department, which employed a similar narrow justification.
The president has also pressed to hold hearings over allegations that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud, signaling that a replacement aligned with his agenda could be installed on the Federal Reserve Board. This tactic resembles a prior misstep when the Justice Department opened a criminal inquiry into former Fed Chair Jerome Powell over renovations at the central bank’s headquarters; U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro dropped the probe in April, and the department ultimately found nothing criminal in Powell’s conduct.
An investigation will determine whether Omar broke the law. If past patterns hold, however, the probe is likely driven more by political hostility than by substantive criminal concerns.
