Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said “multiple warrants” were carried out in a single day at locations connected to an investigation involving Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, as former President Barack Obama publicly defended her.
Speaking Friday on the Charlie Kirk Show, Mullin, 49, offered few details about the federal inquiry into the Democratic representative.
“All I can say is, one, yes, we served a warrant,” Mullin said. “I can’t say that it was on a specific person or not, but she wasn’t—or it wasn’t—the only place we served a warrant. There were multiple other warrants served on that same day.”
In an interview with hosts Andrew Kolvet and Blake Neff, the secretary again rejected claims that Monday’s search of the Somali-born lawmaker’s Washington, DC, home was politically motivated.
The search was conducted as part of an investigation into immigration documents that Omar’s father allegedly completed on her behalf when she was a child.
Omar has condemned the probe as a politically motivated witch hunt. Obama echoed her concerns Sunday, accusing the administration of targeting the congresswoman.
“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say,” the former president wrote on X.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, 49, said multiple warrants were executed on the same day agents searched Ilhan Omar’s Washington, DC, home
Federal agents arrived at Ilhan Omar’s Washington residence early Monday as part of a criminal fraud investigation into how the congresswoman entered the United States
HSI agents were photographed at the entrance to Omar’s home on Monday
“But that’s exactly what the Trump administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota,” Obama added.
Monday’s operation represents a significant escalation in a case first disclosed in mid-September by border czar Tom Homan.
Mullin said he expects the investigation to be presented to a grand jury, although Omar has not been charged with a crime.
“We had a judge sign it, and we expect to be able to take the case to a grand jury,” the secretary said.
“But I will tell you, we wouldn’t move forward, and President Trump didn’t want to move forward either, unless we knew that it couldn’t be politically driven. Now they want to try making it politically driven. This individual wants to try making it about themselves. This was about enforcing, once again, our nation’s laws, and it’s a strong case,” Mullin said.
Before the raid, Mullin said the inquiry reached beyond Omar’s disputed 2009 marriage and warned that removal proceedings could be considered if investigators establish wrongdoing.
Omar has faced longstanding allegations that she married her brother to help him enter the United States.
She has categorically denied the claim, calling it “absurd and offensive.”
Obama described the allegations against Omar as appalling while criticizing the Trump administration’s decision to raid her home.
“To understand why this is so appalling, it’s important to know the facts,” the former president wrote.
Barack Obama speaks out against Trump following the raid calling the investigation appalling in lengthy rant to X
Omar is one of the most outspoken critics of Trump in the US Congress
‘Congresswoman Omar came to this country with her father when she was 12 years old. Five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen.’
He added that if Omar had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately. However, because she was 17, she automatically became a citizen.
Obama went on to claim that the investigation was trying to justify deporting the congresswoman on the ‘theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized and therefore is not a citizen.’
‘Think about that. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president,’ he continued.
‘And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.’
Obama added that in those cases, Trump’s efforts resulted in stalled trials or dismissals.
‘The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views,’ he added.
‘Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.’
Homeland Security officers walk down 26th Street NE in Washington, DC, the street of Omar’s home
President Trump previously stated he had no knowledge of the investigation into Omar.
Following the raid, he was asked for his thoughts, to which he told reporters: ‘I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ.’
Omar, a member of the progressive Squad, is one of the president’s most outspoken critics on Capitol Hill and has been a regular target of his attacks since his first term.
Omar married her former political consultant Tim Mynett in Washington in March 2020, just four months after her divorce from Ahmed Hirsi, the father of her three children, was finalized.
Mynett’s ex-wife, Beth, had filed for divorce the previous August, claiming in court papers that he walked out on her after making a ‘shocking declaration of love’ for the congresswoman.
The raid comes less than seven weeks after Minneapolis police swooped on the apartment Omar’s son, Adnan Hirsi, 20, shares with a roommate.
Officers seized guns and ammunition from the home and arrested the roommate, Abdulrahman Abdi, 22, on a weapons charge after finding a firearm in his impounded car.
Hirsi has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
