The search and the letter

Federal agents searched the Washington, DC, home of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota on Monday, 12 October, as part of an investigation into alleged immigration fraud. Agents spent hours inside the residence and left with several boxes of seized items, and they took her phone. On Friday, 16 October, her lawyers sent a letter to federal prosecutors demanding the return of the seized property and the preservation of any audio and video recorded during the search. The letter, written by attorneys Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, was obtained by the Associated Press.

Claims about the judge's limits

The lawyers say agents ignored conditions that a US magistrate judge placed on how the search should be carried out. Those conditions required investigators to give Omar's lawyers a copy of the warrant and to contact the House Office of General Counsel before the search. Had that contact happened, Omar could have consulted congressional attorneys about legislative work that might be exempt from seizure, the lawyers argue. They call the search "neither justified nor lawful" and say the judge's procedures exist to protect Omar's constitutional rights as a sitting member of Congress. The lawyers also argue the probe is politically motivated because it began weeks before the 3 November midterm elections, in which Omar is on the ballot. They accuse the Justice Department of breaking its longstanding practice of avoiding public investigative steps involving a candidate within 60 days of an election.

Justice Department response

A Justice Department spokesperson, Emily Covington, said the letter was riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies. In a text message, the spokesperson wrote:

“Our attorneys and law enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do.”

Omar has denied the allegation at the center of the immigration inquiry. The investigation came after years in which Donald Trump and conservative media figures promoted rumors that Omar's former husband is actually her brother and that she married him so he could obtain immigration status. Those claims remain unsubstantiated, and Omar has rejected them.

The scope of the probe

The scope of the investigation is unclear. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has indicated that authorities were looking at possible offenses linked to the family's immigration paperwork, and in September he suggested the investigation could ultimately lead to Omar's deportation. Washington's US attorney, Jeanine Pirro, has said several investigations are under way related to Omar, and her office is looking at the congresswoman's financial disclosures. According to three people familiar with the matter, investigators reviewed family text messages from a phone seized earlier this year from one of Omar's sisters, and those messages helped persuade a federal judge to authorize the search. The probe sits before a federal grand jury in Minnesota and asks whether Omar and relatives lied or left out key information in immigration paperwork filed since they moved to the United States in the 1990s, after fleeing Somalia's civil war as refugees.

What comes next

Federal officials have issued subpoenas in recent days to the sister and several other people in Omar's circle, and more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas overall have gone out, including to some of her relatives. Omar's lawyers want any audio and video from the search preserved, along with the return of the seized items. The letter lays out arguments her legal team could make in court if she is charged with a crime. The midterm elections fall on 3 November.