175 House Democrats Demand Trump Administration Halt Ilhan Omar Probe

A total of 175 House Democrats are demanding that the Trump administration take no further steps in its criminal investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., before next week’s election.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., led the Oct. 26 letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, joined by Reps. Jamie Raskin, Robert Garcia, Bennie Thompson, Yvette Clarke and Greg Casar.

“This weaponization of law enforcement to harass a sitting Member of Congress 22 days before an election is unprecedented and unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., are among the signers.

Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant at Omar’s Washington, D.C., home around dawn on Oct. 12. According to the letter, agents carried out boxes of documents and obtained her DNA, personal phone and passport.

Omar is under federal investigation over allegations that she or her father lied about her birth year on immigration paperwork when the family came to the U.S. from Somalia, Fox News reported.

If she was 17 when her father became a citizen, she would have automatically qualified along with him. If she was 18 or older, as federal officials now suspect, she would have had to apply on her own.

The Democrats argue the timing violates long-standing Justice Department practice against taking investigative steps involving a candidate close to an election when a delay would not jeopardize the case.

“News of the search warrant, whether properly predicated or not, could affect voters’ decisions,” the letter says. Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District on Nov. 3.

The lawmakers also point to reports that the first Trump administration looked into the same matter in 2019 and found insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

They cite Vice President JD Vance’s remark in March that Omar “definitely committed immigration fraud” and Mullin’s comment last month that “something’s going to happen” with her as evidence of a political motive.

“You have already disgraced the offices you hold, and we demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election,” the letter says.

Omar has dismissed the probe as a political hit job against one of President Donald Trump’s loudest critics.

The letter notes that Trump, while saying he had “nothing to do” with the warrant, called Omar “totally crooked” and a “terrible person” when asked about the search.

Republicans have taken a harder line. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., has called for Omar to be jailed and deported if the accusations are proven true.

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