The Justice Department used an unexplained name for Rep. Ilhan Omar in an Oct. 21 filing seeking extra time to answer requests to unseal records from a search of her home.
The motion identifies Omar as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” Prosecutors did not explain the wording. The filing concerns access to sealed search warrant records and makes no finding about Omar’s former marriage.
Prosecutors asked the court to defer their responses to three applications until the warrant is fully executed. The applications came from 14 news organizations, The New York Times Company and Judicial Watch, Inc. The applicants opposed the delay, according to the motion.
The Justice Department proposed reporting to the court within 30 days after the warrant’s execution is complete. Its motion does not explain why execution remains unfinished or disclose the evidence behind the search. It provides no evidence that Omar ever used the name in the filing.
Omar said in a 2016 statement that she legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009. She denied an allegation that circulated during her Minnesota legislative campaign that Elmi was her brother. The Minnesota Star Tribune reviewed public records in 2019 and said the documents did not settle the allegation.
Omar’s office confirmed that agents searched her Washington home on Oct. 12 and said she had done nothing wrong. Earlier EconoTimes coverage of the investigation reported the Justice Department’s description of the search as part of an ongoing criminal inquiry.
The court had set Oct. 22 for responses to the applications from the news organizations and The New York Times Company, and Nov. 9 for Judicial Watch, Inc. The motion reported no ruling on the extension request. If the court declines to wait for completion of the warrant, prosecutors asked to respond to all three applications by Nov. 9.
