Ilhan Omar Says Federal Investigators Have Told Her Nothing as Trump Renews Call for Her to Resign

Rep. Ilhan Omar said Friday that federal authorities have not told her anything about the criminal case behind this month’s search of her home in Washington, D.C., as President Donald Trump renewed his calls at a Florida rally for the Minnesota Democrat to leave Congress.

Omar spoke briefly with reporters Friday morning after casting an early ballot at a polling place in Minneapolis, according to CBS Minnesota. Asked what investigators had shared with her, she answered that “they haven’t told us anything” before getting into a car. Omar is running for a fifth term in the House in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

The search and the investigation

On Oct. 12, agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the criminal investigations unit within the Department of Homeland Security, carried out a search warrant at Omar’s Washington residence. The Justice Department said in a statement at the time that the agents “executed a judicially authorized search warrant” as “part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.” The statement did not name Omar or describe the nature of the case.

The warrant itself remains sealed, and several news organizations have gone to court seeking its release. According to sources cited by CBS News, the case centers on immigration documents that her father submitted during her childhood. Omar was born in Somalia and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2000.

Omar has not been charged with a crime. Her office said after the search that she had “done nothing wrong,” and she has called the investigation “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

In an interview this week with MS NOW, Omar described her surprise at the items agents seized, among them old phones and notebooks, calling it “such a bizarre thing.” She also said, “I don’t think anyone has a real understanding of what is happening.” Omar has said that because of death threats, and because the address is publicly known, she can no longer stay at the Washington home.

The dispute over her name

In a recent court filing, the Justice Department identified Omar using the surname of her former husband, CBS Minnesota reported. In a social media post, Trump alleged that she took office under a “fake name,” and he has also asserted that her former husband is her brother. Omar rejects both allegations.

Responding on X, Omar wrote, “Whenever the news turns bad, this creep reaches for one name: mine. So let’s make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar.” She repeated to reporters Friday that her name is Ilhan Abdullahi Omar. Her lawyers have no explanation for the department’s use of a different surname in the filing, a person familiar with the matter told CBS Minnesota, and that name is not hers.

Trump’s remarks in Florida

Speaking Friday at a rally in Florida for Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican candidate for governor, Trump said Omar “must immediately resign from Congress,” according to NBC News. He repeated his claim, without offering evidence, that she used a “fake name” when she was sworn in. He also used a vulgar term to describe Somalia and called it “probably the worst country on Earth.”

NBC News reported that Trump made the same allegation about her name at a rally in Iowa on Thursday night, where he also repeated an accusation that she married her brother to commit immigration fraud.

What comes next

No charges have been announced, and the Justice Department has not publicly described what investigators are examining. Under written Justice Department policy, as described by NBC News, prosecutors and agents may not schedule investigative actions or public comments with the aim of affecting an election, and they are told to ask for guidance when timing could draw questions. Election Day is Nov. 3.