Federal agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant at the Washington, D.C.-area home of U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar on Monday morning, October 12, 2026.
Federal law enforcement activity centered early Monday morning on the residential property of Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. Investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security operating under warrants secured by the Department of Justice, arrived to carry out the search in the Washington, D.C. area.
Throughout the morning, officers blocked off the street, and law enforcement personnel wearing HSI jackets were observed at the home.
Neither the Justice Department nor the Department of Homeland Security detailed the precise scope of the inquiry in their initial public statements. A DOJ spokesperson confirmed the operation in an email stating that Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the department as part of an active federal criminal probe.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated to news outlets that the investigation centers on criminal fraud concerning Omar’s immigration paperwork, which her late father filled out when she was a child.
Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, said last month: We’re pulling the records now,
referring to an investigation into Omar.
Critics from the administration have pointed to past allegations concerning Omar’s family history and her 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom political opponents have alleged to be her brother. Omar has consistently denied that Elmi is her brother, branding the claims as baseless bigotry. Her account notes that a religious union took place with Hirsi back in 2002 before they parted ways, leading up to her legal marriage to Elmi in 2009. The congresswoman said she and Elmi separated two years later, in 2011, before she reconciled with Hirsi. She and Elmi were legally divorced in 2017.
“Today in the Washington, DC, area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice.”
Justice Department spokesperson
Political Fallout and the Midterm Election Timeline
The search took place three weeks before the November midterms, in which Omar is on the ballot for reelection to represent Minnesota’s 5th District, which includes all of Minneapolis. The timing brought renewed scrutiny regarding internal department guidelines.
Near the end of last month, the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General advised department leaders to make it a priority to provide clear directives to prosecutors and agents concerning activities that could foreseeably affect an impending election.
As a matter of past practice, the department has generally tried to steer clear of public investigative steps directed at a candidate within a 60-day window before any primary or general vote.
President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have frequently targeted Omar with public criticism and accusations regarding her immigration background.
Response from Representative Omar and Congressional Leaders
Representative Omar dismissed the operation as political retribution, releasing a statement on social media declaring that she will not be silenced and calling the search the latest escalation
in President Donald Trump’s “intimidation” campaign.
“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar
Top House Democratic leaders rallied behind the congresswoman in a joint statement, characterizing the search as an abuse of power. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark, and caucus Chair Pete Aguilar asserted that the American people deserve transparency and promised accountability from the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice.
Additional progressive members of Congress voiced fierce opposition to the raid. Representative Rashida Tlaib posted on social media that the deployment of federal enforcement to a sitting lawmaker’s residence resembles actions taken in a fascist police state, while Omar’s spokesperson, Jackie Rogers, labeled the operation an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.
