Opinion: Gregg Jarrett Says Obama's Attack on the Omar Probe Leaves Out That His Own Administration Investigated Her First
In a Fox News column, the legal analyst argues the New York Times report on a shelved 2016 marriage-fraud inquiry exposes a double standard. He says civil denaturalization had no time limit. It is commentary, and Omar has called the accusations politically driven.
A Fox News legal analyst says a former president criticized something his own government once did. This is opinion, and the judgments are the author's.
The writer. Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News legal analyst and author.
The argument. Jarrett says Barack Obama called the criminal investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., "appalling" on social media, while leaving out that his own Department of Homeland Security and the FBI looked into whether she entered a sham marriage with her alleged brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, so he could get a green card. He cites a New York Times report that the 2016 inquiry "found some evidence that it was fraudulent" and was shelved because prosecutors concluded a felony fell outside the five-year statute of limitations. Jarrett calls that "dishonesty by omission."
The legal claim. He argues the limitation clock runs from the last overt act, such as a later green card step, document fraud or a cover-up, not the 2009 wedding. He also says a civil immigration fraud route had no statute of limitations and a lower "clear and convincing" standard that could have led to denaturalization. He asks why it was not taken and suggests "preferential treatment" or "political cronyism." That is his speculation.
The current probe. He says it now includes a judicially ordered search of Omar's home on Oct. 12, 2026, questions over whether she used a false name and birth date to obtain citizenship, and a separate look at her finances. On her age, he says Obama's claim that she was 17 when she applied for derivative citizenship is disputed by her autobiography and other documents.
The other side. Omar has dismissed marriage-fraud accusations as politically driven. Jarrett writes that the Times report undercuts that argument. He says Trump is expanding what Obama's prosecutors would not touch.
Note for readers: the Times report relied on current and former officials, and Jarrett's legal reading is his own. No charge against Omar is reported in this column.