Trump’s Twisted Revenge Plot Against Democratic Nemesis Exposed
The progressive lawmaker says there is “no basis” for the investigation.
Eric Lee/REUTERS
The Trump administration is trying to strip Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar of her citizenship and then deport her, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Department of Homeland Security agents searched the Democratic lawmaker’s Washington, D.C.-area home on Monday, and a DOJ spokesperson told the Daily Beast at the time that the investigation centered around Omar’s immigration paperwork.
Omar, 44, is a naturalized citizen who emigrated from Somalia as a child. In 1995, her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, brought her and other family members to the U.S. from a Kenyan refugee camp, where they had been living due to Somalia’s civil war. She became a citizen when she was 17.
The Journal reports that investigators are looking into whether Omar or her father, who died in 2020, changed her age on her citizenship application to say she was 17 instead of 18. Applicants 18 and older must go through their own citizenship process.
Investigators have also issued subpoenas to some of the lawmaker’s relatives.
U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar.
Tim Evans/REUTERS
In a statement to the Journal Wednesday, Omar’s office reiterated that she has never committed immigration fraud: “President Trump would love to eliminate one of the most effective progressive voices in Congress. There is no basis for this.”
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Trump, 80, has long criticized Omar. In January, he wrote in a social media post, “‘Scammer’ Ilhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now, or far worse, send them back to Somalia.”
When reached for comment, the White House referred the Daily Beast to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond.
According to the Journal, the Department of Homeland Security under President Joe Biden received a tip about Omar’s immigration paperwork. Investigators encountered a lack of evidence of fraud and did not pursue it further.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations work outside the residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar after authorities conducted a raid as part of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department, in Washington, D.C., on October 12.
Annabelle Gordon/REUTERS
On Monday, investigators seized Omar’s cellphone, personal computers, notebooks, and her passport, the Journal reported. She and her husband, Tim Mynett, were home at the time.
The raid occurred with less than a month until the midterm elections, despite Justice Department norms stating that overt steps in criminal investigations should be avoided 60 days out from an election to avoid influencing the outcome. On Tuesday, watchdog group Democracy Defenders Fund filed a Hatch Act complaint, alleging the raid “appears to be timed to influence voters in the upcoming midterm election.”
Omar’s district, which covers Minneapolis and some of its suburbs, is heavily Democratic; in 2024, she won re-election with over 74 percent of the vote.
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