[Source: Reuters]
US authorities conducted a predawn raid on Monday on the Washington, DC, home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, an outspoken critic of Donald Trump who has been the target of political insults by the Republican president, as part of an ongoing investigation, the Justice Department said.
A person familiar with the investigation said it is related to alleged immigration fraud, and part of the probe concerns the Somali-born lawmaker’s immigration paperwork filled out by her late father when she was a child.
Omar wrote on social media that the US government is being weaponized to target a political enemy of the president.
“For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns,” Omar said. “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”
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Other Democrats accused Trump and his administration of abuse of power. Omar, 44, is seeking a fifth two-year term in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections on November 3.
Campaigning in Youngstown, Ohio, Trump quickly turned to Omar, who was born in Somalia and became a US citizen in 2000, settling in Minnesota, home to a large community of Somalis.