Ilhan Omar’s attorneys demand return of seized items after federal raid
Lawyers for Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota have asked the Justice Department to give back property taken during a federal search of her Washington, D.C. residence, alleging that the investigation is politically driven and that officials ignored a magistrate judge’s instructions. In a letter obtained by the Associated Press and sent to federal prosecutors on Friday, attorneys Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz wrote that “the political motivations behind this pre‑election investigation and search are clear as day” and called the raid “neither justified nor lawful.”
The letter contests an inquiry into Omar’s immigration background, stating there is “no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status.” It also claims federal agents threatened the separation of powers by failing to follow the judge’s orders for the search of Omar’s northeast Washington home on Monday.
On that day, agents entered the home as part of a probe into alleged immigration fraud, taking Omar’s phone and passport and issuing more than a dozen grand‑jury subpoenas, some of which were directed at her relatives, according to The Washington Post. Omar’s counsel asked that audio and video recordings of the raid be preserved.
According to the attorneys, investigators did not provide a copy of the search warrant in advance, nor did they notify the House Office of General Counsel, a step that would have complied with the magistrate judge’s directive. They argue that the procedural safeguards were intended to protect Omar’s constitutional rights as a sitting member of Congress and to prevent the seizure of materials related to her legislative duties.
Jeffress and Matz also said the timing of the investigation, just weeks before the November midterm elections, suggests a political motive. “Historically, the Department has refrained from this type of investigative activity so close to an election, so as to avoid even the appearance of politically motivated law‑enforcement actions,” they wrote.
The Justice Department dismissed the accusations, calling the letter “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies.” Spokesperson Emily Covington said, “Our attorneys and law‑enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do.”
Omar became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000 after fleeing Somalia as a child, according to her House biography. She has repeatedly denied claims by conservative critics that her immigration status is questionable, a subject that was also investigated in 2019 during the Trump administration. Her lawyers have asked for records from that 2019 inquiry, which the Washington Post reported concluded there was insufficient evidence to pursue a full investigation.
The current probe’s scope remains unclear. The raid occurred days after former President Donald Trump criticized Omar at a Tennessee rally, describing her native country as a place of “crime and squalor” and suggesting that Vice President JD Vance and others were looking into her. Trump later said he had no involvement, telling reporters the matter was “really up to the DOJ.”