Rep. Ilhan Omar Addresses Claims She Married Her Brother

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has offered a notably cautious response to unsubstantiated allegations that she married her brother as part of an immigration-fraud scheme, saying she was not related to her former husband—“not to my knowledge.”

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has offered a notably cautious response to unsubstantiated allegations that she married her brother as part of an immigration-fraud scheme, saying she was not related to her former husband—“not to my knowledge.”

The 44-year-old Minnesota lawmaker addressed the extraordinary claim during a televised interview Wednesday, shortly after federal agents searched her Washington, DC, residence in connection with an alleged immigration-fraud investigation.

Omar, a leading figure among the progressive congressional “Squad,” rejected the years-old accusations as “insane” and said they had been fueled by right-wing conspiracy theorists.

However, when MS NOW host Chris Hayes asked whether there was any possibility she had been related to her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, Omar gave an unusually qualified answer.

“Not to my knowledge,” she said.

The exchange marked Omar’s first major interview since Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out a search warrant at her home the previous week. Investigators reportedly took phones, computers and other personal property.

Hayes introduced the topic by noting the unusual nature of the allegations, which President Donald Trump and other political critics have repeatedly promoted.

“Who was this man who became your husband? When did people begin claiming he was your brother, and why?”

“Who was this man who became your husband? When did people begin claiming he was your brother, and why?”

Omar said the allegations could be traced to an obscure Somali-language blog before conservative activists in Minneapolis helped spread the story.

“It started with the Somali blog. I don’t know whether it still exists, but someone wrote that he had to have been my brother, or something along those lines,” she said.

“Right-wing conspiracy theorists in Minneapolis then picked it up.”

The Minnesota Democrat also accused her opponents of locating people who claimed she had presented Elmi as her sibling.

“They went out and found random people who said, ‘She introduced us. She introduced him to us as her brother,’ which is, you know, insane,” Omar said.

Omar said she did not know or recognize the people making those claims.

When he followed up by asking whether there was any ‘weird kernel of truth’ behind the allegation, Omar responded: ‘Not to my knowledge.’

There is no established evidence that Elmi is Omar’s brother, and the congresswoman has consistently denied the allegation.

The interview also provided Omar’s most detailed account yet of the dramatic federal search that has placed her citizenship and personal affairs under intense scrutiny.

She claimed approximately 15 to 25 agents arrived at her residence at 6am, pounding on doors while she and her family were asleep.

‘I only had two and a half hours of sleep when they came, you know, pounding on the doors,’ she recalled.

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Omar said she initially feared an emergency was unfolding outside.

‘I thought something was on fire. I thought something was happening to the neighbors,’ she explained.

The congresswoman said agents spent between four and five hours searching the property, eventually removing 17 items, including several phones, notebooks, a vintage camera and a Somali language book.

She described the operation as ‘intrusive but polite,’ acknowledging that agents treated her belongings carefully and even folded some of her clothes.

Nevertheless, she accused the Trump administration of orchestrating an intimidating spectacle designed to satisfy the president’s supporters.

‘They had to do something, I believe, to say, hey, look, we raided her house,’ she alleged.

Federal investigators are examining possible immigration fraud, with the Minnesota US Attorney’s Office investigating whether false statements were made in immigration documents concerning Omar’s birth date.

Investigators have issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including some involving Omar’s relatives.

The congresswoman maintains that she legally obtained American citizenship at 17 through her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, who became a naturalized citizen in 2000.

She suggested investigators were now focusing on documents completed by her late father, who can no longer defend himself.

‘It’s also very convenient because my dad is no longer alive,’ Omar told Hayes. ‘So it’s another thing they can drag on forever.’

Trump has publicly suggested Omar could face imprisonment if investigators establish that she committed immigration fraud.

‘She could go to jail,’ the president said on Tuesday. ‘They keep talking about deportation.’

Omar, however, insisted she had committed no wrongdoing and accused the administration of pursuing a politically motivated campaign against her.

She also addressed separate questions surrounding her family’s finances after congressional disclosure documents appeared to value business interests connected to her husband, Tim Mynett, at approximately $30 million.

That figure was subsequently revised substantially downward, with Hayes saying liabilities reduced the reported valuation to around $20,000.

Omar rejected suggestions that she was secretly wealthy, portraying herself as an ordinary working American struggling with everyday expenses.

‘I mean, it’s, you know, working, working class, I guess, like paycheck to paycheck still,’ she said.

‘We’ve got four kids. And, you know, we live, I think, like a basic life.’

She pointed to the family’s modest vehicle as evidence.

‘I have a Toyota Camry that’s from 2016. It’s our only car. I rent my DC place and my Minneapolis place.’