Report says investigators obtained DNA in Ilhan Omar immigration probe

Investigators obtained DNA they consider potentially relevant to allegations about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration history, Hindustan Times reported on October 20, citing sources who spoke to the New York Post. The report concerns a federal investigation that included a search of the Minnesota Democrat’s Washington, DC, home. The allegations remain unproven, and it is unclear whether the DNA was obtained before or after the search.

According to Hindustan Times, people familiar with the investigation said investigators used whistleblowers, government records and DNA to examine allegations involving Omar and members of her family. One source described the DNA as critical to an allegation that Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009 to help him obtain a green card. The report says he did not obtain one through the alleged arrangement; it does not establish the claimed family relationship or immigration fraud.

Search and potential charges

Hindustan Times attributed to two further sources the view that the search warrant and other evidence gave prosecutors grounds to bring a possible immigration fraud conspiracy charge before a grand jury. The report identifies no filed charge. It also described a separate inquiry by US Attorney Jeanine Pirro into Omar’s finances, including an accounting discrepancy in House disclosures.

Omar challenges the investigation

Omar has called the investigation an escalation in what she describes as President Donald Trump’s campaign of political intimidation, the BBC reported. Her office characterized the October 12 raid as an abuse of power. The White House denied that the investigation was politically motivated, and Trump said it had nothing to do with him.

Omar’s lawyers have sought the return of property taken during the search, the BBC reported, citing CBS News. In a letter, they alleged that agents breached protections for her work as a federal lawmaker, failed to give required notice to her or the House general counsel, and prevented her from contacting her attorney for more than an hour.