The New York Post reported that federal investigators possess DNA evidence in an inquiry involving U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, but published no test result supporting the allegation it described.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents carried out a judge-authorized search in the Washington, D.C., area as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Associated Press reporting and photographs identified the site as Omar’s home and placed the search on Oct. 12. The DOJ has not publicly described DNA evidence.
An unnamed source cited by the Post connected the reported evidence to an unverified allegation that Omar’s former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother and that their 2009 marriage was intended to help him obtain U.S. immigration status. The Post did not publish a genetic test result establishing a family relationship.
Omar said in a 2016 statement that she legally married Elmi and denied that they are siblings. After the search, her office said she had done nothing wrong and accused President Donald Trump’s administration of targeting a political opponent.
A person briefed on the case told the Associated Press that authorities took Omar’s phone. The person also described more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, some directed at relatives.
The Washington Post reported that three former immigration officials described the request that prompted a review of Omar’s immigration file in 2019. The Washington Post reported that the review found no citizenship issues sufficient to pursue an inquiry at the time, and a proposed full investigation was abandoned. That earlier decision does not resolve the current inquiry.
Omar’s lawyers have asked for property taken during the search to be returned and challenged how agents conducted it. A DOJ spokesperson told the AP that officials complied with court orders. In an Oct. 18 post on X, former President Barack Obama accused the Trump administration of using the investigation to intimidate a political critic.
Omar is seeking reelection in the Nov. 3 general election.
