Homeland Security Investigations agents searched what outlets, citing unnamed sources, identify as Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington-area home early Monday. The Justice Department said in a statement that agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant and that the action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The statement did not name her. Most of the detail below comes from unnamed sources, not from officials speaking on the record.
What the Justice Department said on the record
The Justice Department said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the criminal investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security, executed a judicially authorized search warrant in the Washington, D.C., area, under a warrant the department secured. It also said the enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. NBC News attributed the statement to a Justice Department spokesperson; the Associated Press, ABC News and CBS News relayed it as the department’s.
The statement did not name Omar and gave no further detail about the nature of the investigation, NBC and the AP reported. NBC reported that the White House and the Department of Homeland Security referred questions about the search to the Justice Department; ABC reported the same of the White House, and the AP’s later version said a DHS spokesperson referred questions to the Justice Department.
What was seen outside
Fox News reported that agents in HSI jackets were seen outside the home in the early hours of Monday. The AP reported that the street was blocked off Monday morning. An ABC photo caption placed a Homeland Security officer on 26th Street NE in Washington.
What unnamed sources told news outlets
These accounts are not confirmed by the Justice Department, and they differ in detail.
NBC said Fox News reported the search first; Fox’s page is stamped 7:37 a.m. EDT. Fox cited unnamed sources close to the investigation and said the investigation concerns Omar’s immigration paperwork, which her late father filled out when she was a child. Fox named no source for that detail. MS NOW relayed Fox’s reporting, which it described as resting on two sources close to the probe, and said it had not independently verified the reports. MS NOW said it received the Justice Department statement directly.
CBS said three people familiar with the investigation confirmed the raid. Citing unnamed sources, it reported that the investigation centers on Omar’s immigration paperwork, with documents dating to her childhood that were completed by her late father. CBS described the search as carried out by ICE’s investigations unit and also said HSI leads the investigation with the Justice Department assisting. CBS gave a general description of HSI’s jurisdiction as covering immigration document fraud, identity fraud and immigration benefit fraud; that is not a stated charge.
ABC News, citing unnamed sources, reported that the investigation relates to Omar’s immigration paperwork. The AP, citing two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly, reported that HSI conducted the search and said the nature and scope of the investigation were unclear.
NBC cited two people familiar with the matter on the timing of the search. A single person familiar with the investigation told NBC it is a years-long criminal investigation involving whistleblowers; NBC did not say what the whistleblower allegations are. The late-father detail was in the Fox and CBS reports but not in NBC’s report as of its 10:43 a.m. update.
What is not known
The reports from the AP (updated 11:14 a.m. EDT), NBC (10:43), ABC (10:42), CBS (10:25), MS NOW (9:20) and Fox (8:12) did not say what agents searched for or took from the home, how long the search lasted, the exact time of the search, or how many agents took part. ABC reported that it was unclear whether Omar was at the residence.
In those same reports, the Justice Department had not said who the target of the investigation is or what offenses it is examining. No charge against Omar had been reported. Omar had not commented on the search, her office did not immediately respond to requests from NBC, ABC and the AP, and no statement from a lawyer for her had been reported. The on-record statement names no offense, and the unnamed-source reports describe the investigation only as concerning her immigration paperwork.
The outlets that connect Omar to the investigation do so on the basis of unnamed sources and, in some cases, agents seen outside the home they identify as hers.
A search is not a charge. Omar has denied earlier allegations about her family’s immigration history. She is presumed innocent.
What officials said earlier this year
Several administration officials have spoken publicly about Omar and immigration in recent months. These remarks are separate from Monday’s search, and none of them describes the warrant.
Trump said on Truth Social on Jan. 26 that the Justice Department and Congress were looking at Omar, NBC reported; Omar replied on X that years of investigations had found nothing.
Vice President JD Vance said in May that the administration would look into allegations of immigration fraud by Omar, remarking that something seemed fishy while adding that everyone is entitled to equal justice, according to the AP. In March, on a podcast, he said the administration thinks Omar committed immigration fraud; he presented no evidence, according to the AP. Omar’s office has dismissed such claims.
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News in mid-September that ICE and HSI were investigating Omar. Fox and CBS described those remarks as confirming the investigation; he gave no specifics, according to Fox. NBC reported that he told Fox DHS was investigating her and also spoke hypothetically about immigration violations without attributing them to her. According to MS NOW, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in September that investigators were still looking at her.
Republicans have alleged that Omar married her brother. Omar has denied it, calling it disgusting lies, according to the AP. No report cited here ties that allegation to Monday’s search; the unnamed-source reports tie the search to her immigration paperwork, and Fox and CBS said her late father completed it in her childhood; ABC mentioned the paperwork without that detail. No charge or court finding on the allegation had been reported.
President Trump said at a rally in Tennessee on Saturday that Vance and the administration’s people were looking at the matter very strongly, according to ABC. In September, after Homan’s comments, Omar said she had not been contacted about any investigation, according to CBS.
Reaction
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, criticized the search on X, according to MS NOW, describing it as the president abusing his power to go after political opponents. That is Walz’s view, not a finding. The NBC, CBS, AP and MS NOW reports quoted no member of Congress or advocacy group on the search.
Election timing
The search came 22 days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, in which Omar is seeking a fifth term in Minnesota’s 5th District. She has represented the Minneapolis-area district since 2019 and was the first Somali American elected to Congress. She came to the United States as a child refugee and is a U.S. citizen, according to ABC and NBC.
NBC reported that the Justice Department has an unwritten practice of caution about overt steps, meaning visible investigative actions, near an election, and a written policy against timing an action to influence one. NBC’s source described the investigation as years-long. The Justice Manual, the department’s internal manual for prosecutors, says in section 9-85.500 that federal prosecutors and agents may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, to affect an election, and calls for consultation with the Public Integrity Section when an action is likely to raise an election-timing question. ABC reported that recent practice has been to advise against visible investigative steps involving members of Congress or candidates within 60 days of an election. NBC said there is no formal 60-day ban. NBC also reported that the department’s inspector general recommended guidance late last month on actions that could foreseeably affect an impending election. None of the reports says how those rules applied to this search.
How searches involving members of Congress work
A federal search warrant must rest on probable cause, meaning a sworn showing of reasonable grounds to believe evidence of a crime will be found. Under the Fourth Amendment, it must be supported by oath or affirmation and must describe the place to be searched and the items to be seized. Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41, a magistrate judge, a judge who handles search and arrest warrants, ordinarily issues the warrant, and it must be carried out within 14 days. It must be executed during the daytime, defined as 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time, unless the judge authorizes another time for good cause.
After a search, the officer must prepare an inventory of what was taken, give a copy of the warrant and a receipt to the person, or leave them at the premises if no one is there, and return the warrant and inventory to the judge. A person who believes a search or seizure was unlawful may ask a court for the return of property.
The Justice Manual adds a layer for members of Congress. Section 9-85.110 requires prosecutors to consult the department’s Public Integrity Section in investigations involving a member, and requires that section’s approval for a warrant covering property belonging to a member or a congressional office, or a location likely to hold legislative materials. The manual requires the consultation or approval to be completed before the covered step is taken. No report says whether this approval requirement applied to this warrant, or what consultations took place.
Searches involving members of Congress have happened before. The FBI searched the home and campaign office of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, in January 2022, and called it court-authorized law enforcement activity. The FBI searched the congressional office of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., in 2006, and in August 2007 the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court in Washington, ruled that agents’ review of his paper files violated the Constitution and ordered privileged documents returned. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said in August 2022 that agents had seized his phone under a warrant. The outcomes of those cases differ and are not covered here; each had its own facts, and none shows how this one will unfold.
What happens next
The most direct developments would be a further statement from the Justice Department or the Department of Homeland Security, or a response from Omar or her lawyer. Other things to watch for are the filing with the judge of the warrant and an inventory of what was seized, any unsealing of court papers, and how any later filing characterizes the search. Reaction from members of Congress of both parties had not been reported in those outlets’ latest updates.