Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home outside Washington before dawn on Monday. They were from Homeland Security Investigations, the detective branch of ICE, they were inside for hours, and they left with boxes. The Justice Department would only say that the agents had a warrant and that the search was part of an ongoing federal investigation. Unnamed officials told reporters it was about her immigration paperwork, which her father filed when she was a child. Omar said last month that DHS had never told her she was under criminal investigation. Apparently there for some form of immigration investigation, in reality the agents were there because of a Donald Trump vendetta.
Omar responded on Monday evening. “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.” Her governor, Tim Walz, said Americans see this for what it is, a president abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election. The midterms are 22 days away. Early voting is already open in Minnesota, and this is a clear attempt to subvert that voting.
Trump has called Ilhan Omar a fraud for ten years, since before she was elected, and this year the people who work for him acted on that claim. In May, JD Vance said she had “definitely committed immigration fraud”. At the Republican National Convention, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Benny Johnson that she had married her brother, which she did not do, but was an attempt to throw doubt at her status. In August, ICE parked an undercover agent with mismatched plates outside her town hall in Richfield. In September, Tom Homan went on Fox to confirm a criminal investigation and would not rule out taking her citizenship. On Monday the same agency went through her house on a shoddy warrant, making claims that simply don't make sense. The agents were not there to find out whether she is guilty. Their bosses settled that on television.
