Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant at Rep. Ilhan Omar's home in the Washington area early on October 12, removing boxes from the house. The Justice Department, which obtained the warrant from a judge, said only that "this enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation." People familiar with the case told Fox News, CBS News and Reuters that it concerns immigration paperwork Omar's late father filled out when she was a child, and that investigators are examining possible false statements and immigration fraud. Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, called the search "an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," and her office says she "has done nothing wrong." She has not been charged, and the Justice Department has not said on the record what crimes it suspects or what evidence it has. The search came 22 days before the midterm election, in which Omar is seeking a fifth term, a period in which the department has traditionally avoided overt steps against candidates.
What officials have said
White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed the search on Fox News: "I can confirm that a search warrant was executed this morning, signed by a judge." He declined to discuss details: "The specifics of the investigation, I think I need to turn that over to Todd Blanche or Markwayne Mullin," the attorney general and the homeland security secretary. President Trump said he was not involved. "I understand they're looking at her very carefully – I've always found her to be a totally crooked person," he told reporters. "I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ, I have nothing to do with it." According to sources who spoke to CNN and CBS, top Justice Department leadership approved the search after deliberating over its closeness to the election, Blanche was personally aware of it, and the department's Public Integrity Section was consulted.
What the investigation is reported to cover
None of the reported details come from an indictment or a public court filing. The New York Times reported that the warrant lists "a series of potential immigration crimes under investigation, including false statements and fraud in immigration paperwork, as well as a general conspiracy charge," and that officials are examining "whether Ms. Omar derived citizenship from a father who may have been ineligible to obtain naturalized status." Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000, at 17, through her parents; she came to the United States from Somalia as a child refugee. A source told NBC News that the investigation involves whistleblowers, documents and witness testimony and "goes beyond" immigration and fraud.
Administration officials have made more specific accusations in public than the department has. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told the commentator Benny Johnson last month: "We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States. We know he lives now in London. We feel that there may be more to this, the whole family migration, and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with. But all of us, we're investigating." Vice President JD Vance said in March, "We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud," and in May, more cautiously, that while he did not want to "prejudge an investigation," it "certainly seems like something fishy is there." Omar has denied for years the claim that her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother; the two divorced in 2017. Officials have not produced public proof of that claim, and marriage fraud carries a five-year statute of limitations.
The election-timing question
The Justice Department has in recent years advised prosecutors not to take overt investigative steps against candidates within 60 days of an election, and its policy bars choosing the timing of an investigative step to affect an election. That practice is guidance, not a binding rule. Voting was already underway in Minnesota, where more than 127,000 people had cast ballots, according to the secretary of state's data cited by CNN. Investigations of members of Congress also require additional approvals inside the department, and the Constitution gives lawmakers extra protection for papers related to their legislative work.
Reactions
Omar's full post read: "I'm ok. Make no mistake: this is 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. I will not be silenced." House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar called the search "deeply disturbing," and Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said: "Searching a Representative's home over a decades-old immigration filing by her father is an authoritarian abuse of power." Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Trump "is abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election." Mullin has said the investigation is "not political." No charging decision has been announced.
Sources: CNN, October 12, 2026; ABC News via ABC11, October 12; CBS News, October 12; Fox News, October 12; NBC News, October 12; The Guardian, October 12; TIME, October 12; Reason (citing The New York Times), October 12.
