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By Joshua Rhett Miller
Senior Reporter
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Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar has repeatedly downplayed the prospect of being the subject of a federal probe ahead of Monday's raid at her home as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Omar, 44, has characterized unspecified allegations of immigration fraud as politically motivated as recently as last month, telling a reporter she had not been informed she was being investigated by federal authorities.
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"Why do you follow up with them and ask them what is the information that they have, and how long does the investigation take?" Omar said in mid-September.
Omar flatly dismissed allegations from White House border czar Tom Homan, who told Fox News on September 13 that the Department of Homeland Security had been investigating the Minnesota Democrat, but declined to provide additional details.
"If someone committed an immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they're a congressman or not, no one's above the law," Homan said. "So, I'll leave it at that. We'll let Homeland Security Investigations continue the investigation."
Omar said last month that the specter of charges didn't faze her, however.
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"I don't really worry about it, " Omar previously said. "You have a good day."
Omar struck a similar tune in April when she urged critics to "suggest all you want" during an appearance on a nationally syndicated radio show.
"Listen, suggest all you want," she said. "Please, investigate all you want. Right, like? To me, I'm not, like, 'I'm above the law.'"
HSI agents conducted Monday's search at Omar's home, sources close to the matter told the Associated Press. Vice President JD Vance has previously accused the Minnesota Democrat of immigration fraud, an accusation she has repeatedly denied.
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The Department of Homeland Security referred an inquiry to the Department of Justice, which said HSI agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the agency in Washington, but did not provide additional details.
"This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation," DOJ officials told Newsweek.
Omar denounced Monday's search in a statement posted on X.
"Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," Omar wrote. "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."
Jacklyn Rogers, Omar's communications director, characterized the raid as an "outrageous" abuse of power.
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"For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back,” Rogers told Newsweek in a statement. "Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies."
President Trump acknowledged the raid late Monday when asked if he had known about the operation in advance.
"Well, I understand they’re looking at her very carefully," Trump told reporters. "I've always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me. I think she's a terrible person. She’s just a complainer — she comes from a country that is a non-country."
Video obtained by Fox News shows an unidentified person asking an HSI officer outside Omar's residence whether the operation was an "illegal immigration" raid. The officer declined to provide additional details early Monday.
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Monday's search follows months of federal scrutiny into Omar's immigration history, as confirmed separately last month by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who has said authorities were examining an accusation she married her brother to help him enter the United States. Omar has repeatedly denied the unsubstantiated allegation.
"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," Mullin said last month.
Vance has also previously referenced a DOJ probe into Omar after she had been accused of being privy to the massive $250 million "Feeding Our Future" pandemic fraud scheme, which she has vehemently denied.
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"Any claim that I had knowledge of this scheme is flat-out false," Omar told Newsweek in a statement in May. "The moment this fraud came to light, I immediately sent a letter to the USDA Secretary demanding answers and accountability. As I stated from the beginning, stealing millions of dollars under the guise of feeding hungry children to bankroll lavish lifestyles and extravagant expenses is reprehensible."
Aimee Bock, the 44-year-old convicted ringleader of the scheme, which falsely reported serving 91 million meals to hungry children, was sentenced in May to 500 months in prison for what federal prosecutors billed as the nation's largest pandemic fraud case. She was also ordered to pay $242 million in restitution.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned Monday’s raid as an "obvious act" of political persecution.
"President Trump has spent years obsessively smearing Rep. Omar and demanding that law enforcement target her," CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad told Newsweek in a statement. "So have other anti-Muslim extremists who cannot stand the sight of an accomplished Black woman wearing a hijab and speaking up for human rights while serving her constituents in the halls of Congress. Today’s raid is undoubtedly a result of those demands."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenni Fink and Gray R. Thomas
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