POLL POSITION: Democrats criticized the timing of the raid, saying that the US justice department historically avoids public investigations within 60 days of an election
Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that brings renewed focus to the frequent target of White House derision in the final weeks of her re-election bid.
The search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s home so close to next month’s midterm contests that would determine control of the US House and the Senate was swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the timing given longstanding US Department of Justice (DOJ) protocol to avoid overt investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an election.
Omar, an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trump, said she was being targeted as one of the Republican’s “political enemies.”
A person holds a sign at rally to support US Representative Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Monday, after federal authorities conducted a predawn raid on Omar’s Washington home.
Photo: Reuters
The scope of the investigation was unclear, but Trump and officials in his administration have repeatedly referred to the existence of an inquiry into Omar, a Somalian-born Democrat whose status as an immigrant to the US and left-wing views have drawn scrutiny from the White House and other Republicans.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin last month cited an “ongoing investigation” that he suggested was examining potential fraud in her family’s immigration paperwork.
“Something’s going to happen,” he said in a potential foreshadowing of the search.
In a post on X, Omar called the search an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”
“For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she said. “I will not be silenced.”
At a political rally in Ohio on Monday, Trump attacked Omar’s Somalian origins.
“She’s telling us about the Constitution, and she comes from one of the worst countries anywhere on the planet,” he said.
Although the Republican focus on Omar’s background dates back years, the search notably took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is seeking re-election. The DOJ has historically sought to avoid public investigative actions involving a candidate within 60 days of a primary or general election.
Top Democrats seized on the timing as the latest instance in what they said was the “continued corrupt weaponization” against Trump’s perceived adversaries.
“For years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations,” a joint statement from US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other top congressional Democrats said. “Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family.”
The DOJ said in a statement that agents had executed a judicially authorized search warrant in the Washington area related to an ongoing federal criminal investigation, but provided no other details.
The street around Omar’s home was blocked off on Monday morning as some Homeland Security Investigation agents removed boxes labeled “Seized Property Evidence.”
The operation came just days after Trump referred pejoratively to Omar at a rally in Tennessee as coming from a country of “crime and squalor” and suggested that US Vice President J.D. Vance “and our people” were investigating her.
Hours after the search, Trump told reporters he had “nothing to do” with it and it is “really up to the DOJ.”
Vance has in the past accused Omar of committing immigration fraud, an allegation she has denied, and has said the administration was looking for pathways to investigate her.