Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) condemned the federal government’s recent decision to search her D.C. home, calling the operation political intimidation in an interview with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes that aired Wednesday night. The appearance was her first interview with a news outlet since the Oct. 12 search, which was executed by agents from Homeland Security Investigations.
The early-morning raid was part of a federal investigation examining whether she or her father lied on immigration paperwork submitted after they arrived in the United States in the 1990s. Allegations that the forms contained deliberate errors have circulated in conservative media for several years. In 2019, Trump officials looked at many of the same questions and did not find any citizenship issues.
Omar has repeatedly denied any impropriety with the forms and did so again in the Wednesday interview.
The Minnesota Democrat, who was born in Somalia, arrived in the U.S. with her family at the age of 12 after fleeing the civil war in her home country. Omar told Hayes she believes the search was politically motivated, designed to intimidate Democrats before the midterm elections. Omar is up for reelection after winning her Democratic primary.
The interview was her first time publicly recounting what happened.
At first, Omar said, when she woke up to people yelling and pounding on the front and back doors of her home, she thought there was a fire. “We were screaming … trying to put on clothes and trying to run down before they broke the door,” she said. She was home with her husband and 20-year-old son. There were between 15 and 25 agents, she estimated.
Omar asked the agents whether they had a search warrant and they gave her one, she said. Omar’s lawyers alleged Friday that federal authorities ignored key restrictions that a judge had placed on the search of her home — a claim the Justice Department denies.
Over four to five hours, agents searched her home, Omar said, one room at a time. Omar told Hayes that she sat on the couch and watched, making sure the agents sifting through her things were complying with the warrant in her hand. They took 17 items, she said, including three phones, two of which were hers; also removed by agents were a camera her husband owns, a Somali phrase book, and her husband’s notebooks.
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Donald Trump, who has a long history of attacking Omar, dug into her again on Tuesday after being asked about the raid.
“Could she be deported? Well, she could be. She could also go to jail,” Trump told reporters. “I think she’s a sick, a very dishonest person who hates our country. And she comes from a country that is … a real shit house.”
Trump told reporters last week that he had nothing to do with the investigation, which Omar rejected Wednesday night. “He’s got everything to do with it,” she told Hayes, pointing to the president’s long history of criticizing her, as well as the 2019 probe.
Omar suggested to Hayes that the operation could have been conducted to appease right-wing influencers in the president’s orbit who have been calling for action against her.
“I think the bigger satisfaction for them would be for me to be, like, listen, like, I’m tired of all of you and I’m going to leave,” Omar said. “I’m confident in my truth. I’m confident in the fact that I didn’t do anything wrong,” she later added.
Omar told Hayes she is going to move now that her address has been made public because of the threats her family faces. And she is preparing for the legal battle ahead. On Tuesday, Omar posted a video on social media asking for donations to help with legal fees.
“It is going to be a very expensive and challenging time,” she said.
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