Ilhan Omar’s Lawyers Fight Back, Demand Seized Items After Home Search
In a letter sent late Friday, the Minnesota Democrat’s legal team said the search was “neither justified nor lawful.” Homeland Security Investigations agents carried it out early Monday under a warrant approved by a federal judge.
According to the newspaper, the investigation centers partly on how Ilhan, 44, obtained U.S. citizenship after arriving from Somalia decades ago. The letter responded directly: “There is no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status.”
Ilhan’s lawyers also accused agents of disregarding the judge’s instructions. They said agents did not notify the U.S. House general counsel before executing the warrant, as required, and that neither Ilhan nor her attorneys received a copy of the warrant beforehand, as the judge had ordered. The letter further claimed agents blocked Ilhan from contacting her lawyers for more than an hour after the search began.
A Justice Department spokeswoman rejected the claims, calling the letter “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies. Our attorneys and law enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do.”
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, defended the operation earlier this week, saying a federal judge mindful of constitutional protections had approved it. “That judge would not have signed that warrant unless there was probable cause,” Pirro said on a cable news network.
The letter also accused prosecutors of abusing the grand jury process through subpoenas issued in Washington and Minnesota. It called the probe “This vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated criminal investigation into one of the president’s chief congressional critics violates Representative Ilhan’s constitutional rights and threatens the separation of powers,” the letter said.
The search came three weeks before November’s midterm elections, in which Ilhan is seeking a fifth term. The letter accused the Justice Department of breaking its longstanding practice of avoiding public investigative actions involving political candidates within 60 days of an election, a policy meant to prevent the appearance of partisan interference. Department officials have denied violating any policy.
“This search—which arose from a years-old, tired conspiracy theory concerning conduct stretching back decades—violated longstanding Justice Department policy concerning interference in elections,” the letter said.
Ilhan has long been a target of President Donald Trump and conservatives, as well as Republican-led congressional investigations.
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