Federal investigators uncovered evidence suggesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar entered into a sham marriage with a man alleged to be her brother during a 2016 FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigation. The case involving the Minnesota Democrat later stalled after prosecutors determined that any potential offense had fallen outside the five-year statute of limitations.
The 2016 investigation into Omar’s marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by The Post. A source familiar with the inquiry said the “Biden US Attorney in Minnesota shut it down” soon after taking office in 2021.
The specific evidence investigators obtained regarding Omar’s marriage to Elmi remains unclear.
Omar, who was seeking a seat in the Minnesota Legislature when the investigation began, has repeatedly denied the allegations. She has described claims that she married her brother to help him obtain a green card as a racist conspiracy theory promoted by the far right.
The Post reported Wednesday that Elmi moved in with Omar and her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, after Omar and Hirsi separated in 2009. A friend of Hirsi described Elmi as an “extremely feminine Somali guy” who “was walking around in tight female clothing, which is heavily frowned upon in the Somali community.”
According to the friend, Hirsi said Elmi was “his wife’s brother from London” and that Omar had “embarrassed all of us by bringing him here.” Hirsi reportedly used “very strong words” and called the situation “disgusting.”
“All of the Somalis in Minneapolis were gossiping and trying to find out who this guy was,” the friend said. “Then everyone realized it was … Ilhan’s brother. Everybody was shocked … [Hirsi] explained that she had married him legally to get him papers and that [Hirsi] was only Islamically married to her.”
The friend also told The Post that “Ahmed and Ilhan used to argue over her brother all the time” and that he had “seen them arguing and shouting in public.”
After Elmi left Minnesota around 2012, the source said, “Ahmed praised God for taking him away from his family.”
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Earlier this month, federal agents executed a search warrant at the Washington, DC, home Omar shares with her current husband, Tim Mynett. Investigators seized her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and passport.
Sources told The Post that investigators are examining whether Omar was involved in a family conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, an allegation that could potentially lead to denaturalization and deportation.
Omar has long said that she became a US citizen at age 17 after her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, was naturalized in 2000.
Some records identify Omar’s birthdate as Oct. 4, 1981, while others list the same date in 1982. If the 1981 date is accurate, Omar would have been legally an adult when her father became a citizen and therefore would not have qualified for citizenship through the minor-child provision.
Criminal charges related to alleged immigration fraud can be filed only if the conduct occurred within the previous 10 years. Alleged false statements made to officials are subject to a five-year statute of limitations.
No comparable statute of limitations applies when the government pursues civil denaturalization. President Trump’s Justice Department has initiated a record number of civil denaturalization cases, filing nearly 200 since the start of his second term in January 2025.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Homeland Security Investigations officials received information during the Biden administration about possible changes to Omar’s birthdate. Officials reportedly declined to proceed because they believed there was insufficient evidence.
The Post reported that in spring 2019, after Omar was elected to the House of Representatives, her staff contacted the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and Wikipedia to request that her birth year be listed as 1982 rather than 1981.
The previous fall, Omar’s campaign told The Associated Press that she did not have a birth certificate because her family had been displaced by Somalia’s prolonged civil war.
