Ilhan Omar Denies Marrying Ahmed Elmi for Immigration Fraud in First Interview Since the Raid, Says Not Related 'to My Knowledge'
Speaking to MS NOW's Chris Hayes, the Minnesota Democrat called the search of her D.C. home politically motivated. Two federal investigations, one into her immigration papers and one into her finances, remain open.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., spoke to the media for the first time since federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12. Fox News reports she told MS NOW host Chris Hayes on Wednesday that she did not marry her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, to commit immigration fraud.
The exchange Fox highlights. Asked whether she has any family relation to Elmi, Omar answered, "Not to my knowledge." She also pushed back on long-running claims that they are siblings. "It all started with the Somali blog," she said. "Somebody put it there, that he had to have been my brother or something to that effect." Fox's headline calls the answer a "stunning admission." The quote as reported does not go further than that.
The investigations. Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out a court-authorized search warrant as part of a federal criminal inquiry into possible false statements in Omar's immigration and naturalization documents, Fox says. A magistrate judge in the District of Columbia approved the warrant. The Justice Department has not publicly detailed the allegations. According to the Associated Press, as cited by Fox, authorities issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to members of Omar's family, and seized her phone. Fox also reported that Omar's sister, Sahra Noor, spoke with federal investigators last week.
A second inquiry. Separately, Fox says, authorities are examining Omar's campaign finances and financial disclosures. That inquiry reportedly began during the Biden administration in 2024. A complaint about the growth in her wealth was dismissed by congressional ethics hawks but is now being looked at outside the Capitol, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced last week.
Her response. Omar has denied wrongdoing and calls the case politically motivated. Fox says she told Hayes she believes the raid was meant to appeal to Republican base voters and to intimidate voters. Her office has not answered Fox's requests for comment on the investigations.
Note for readers: no charges against Omar have been announced. Everything above is as reported by Fox, and we have not seen the interview.