WASHINGTON — High-profile defense attorneys have stepped in to represent Rep. Ilhan Omar following an early-morning federal search of her Washington, D.C., residence tied to an inquiry into her immigration records, according to news reports and legal correspondence.
The Minnesota Democrat has retained Amy Jeffress, who served as personal counsel to former President Joe Biden, and Joshua Matz, a lawyer who worked on both presidential impeachments of Donald Trump, the New York Post reported. The two partners from the Washington firm Hecker Fink sent a seven-page letter to the Department of Justice demanding the prompt return of Omar’s passport, electronic devices and other seized materials.
Federal search and legal challenges
Federal agents executed a search warrant at Omar’s residence on Oct. 12 as part of an ongoing criminal inquiry led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia regarding potential false statements on immigration and naturalization paperwork, Fox News reported. During the search, investigators removed roughly 17 items, including laptops, cellphones, a camera, notebooks belonging to her husband and a children’s book in Somali, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported.
In an interview with MS NOW, Omar said as many as 25 agents arrived unannounced and spent four to five hours searching the home. She said she was barred from calling legal counsel for an hour. Omar also stated that federal agents asked her to sign paperwork waiving her constitutional protections under the speech and debate clause, which she refused to do, MS NOW reported.
House legal protections under Article I of the Constitution have historically shielded lawmakers’ official legislative communications and work from executive branch scrutiny, a precedent reinforced when federal authorities examined the phone of Republican Rep. Scott Perry in 2022, MS NOW reported. House Speaker Mike Johnson had not instructed the House counsel to intervene on Omar’s behalf as of midweek, according to Politico reporting cited by MS NOW.
Dispute over names and past records
Court filings associated with the search warrant listed Omar under the designation “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a.k.a. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar,” Fox News reported. While two sources familiar with the matter told Fox News that the former may be her legal name, Omar firmly disputed that assertion.
“My name is Ilhan Abdullahi Omar,” the congresswoman told FOX 9 while casting a ballot in Minneapolis. FOX 9 also reported reviewing a junior-year yearbook from Edison High School in Minneapolis showing her pictured as a 17-year-old under the name “Ilhan Omar.”
Scrutiny has also focused on a deleted 2013 social media post in which Omar wished a happy Father’s Day to “my aabo Nur Said,” Fox News reported. Public documents and a memorial announcement from the Congressional Black Caucus identified her late father as Nur Omar Mohamed. A spokesperson’s statement recirculated online noted that Nur Said was her father’s childhood nickname and that the post was removed in 2019 due to safety concerns and threats directed at her family, according to Fox News.
Reactions and next steps
The federal probe has renewed political sparring in Washington. Former President Donald Trump demanded on Thursday that Omar resign immediately, alleging she took her congressional oath under an assumed identity, the New York Post reported.
Omar and her staff have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and dismissed long-standing online claims that her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, was her brother, calling the assertion a baseless conspiracy theory. When asked in a recent MS NOW interview whether Elmi was a distant relative, Omar responded, “Not to my knowledge.” The couple divorced in 2017.
Immigration specialists cited by The Wall Street Journal have noted that federal prosecutors face a high legal standard to establish intentional fraud in court. Federal authorities have not announced any formal charges, and the Department of Justice has declined to comment on the active investigation.
