Multiple news outlets have reported on DHS search (raid?) of the DC home of longtime Trump target Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. To say the timing of this action DHS (and DOJ) has undertaken is an understatement. Prior to becoming Trump’s personal law firm as has been the case in his second administration the DOJ rigidly followed rules. One huge one is to not comment on details of a given case until they are presented in court, and even then not go trying the case in public. Another is to not take significant action against someone in political office/running for election within sixty days of an election. DHS (and DOJ) are following the first and ignoring the second.
For context keep in mind Omar has long been a target of conservatives and especially Trump. They have gone after her repeatedly, making allegations that haven’t held up once they were properly investigated. Trump (and others) have sometimes called for Omar to be deported. That of course would require stripping her of her citizenship. ‘Denaturalization’ is a cumbersome process and no doubt more so against a public official. In the case of someone like Omar who has been scrutinized for years yet has had every allegation debunked it would be a particularly heavy lift. Still, while DHS is the lead agency on this which tells us quite a bit.
In addition to TV coverage I read articles from five major outlets (including Fox) but here I’ll refer you to the one from Newsweek which to me is (so far) the most informative and balanced. It includes a link to a prior article of theirs that delved into more of DHS’s investigating her immigration status and ‘potential crimes’ (the accusation of marrying her brother to get him to the U.S. is a conservative hobby horse) and I urge you to take a few minutes to read it. As is proper no details of the warrant used to authorize/execute the search have been provided by DHS/DOJ and if they continue to stick to their rules we won’t know what judge/magistrate signed it or what evidence(?) they offered to get authorization. Rules. Yes, DHS is saying more than we’d typically hear but it’s pretty general, boilerplate stuff. So far.
However there’s another DOJ policy about not initiating action against someone like Omar within sixty days of an election. We are less than a month from the midterms. In other words, with DOJ’s blessing and assistance HSI, the investigative arm of DHS is ignoring THAT rule. I for one think it’s to make a big splash in the news. Why? Well, Trump is furious about not ‘getting’ his political enemies and Omar certainly qualifies as one. Every attempt has belly-flopped but his minions at the two agencies know Trump will get a sugar-high for a while seeing Omar’s name dragged through the mud. Another reason will be to whip up fervor with MAGAs on immigration, or ‘illegal immigration’ – a sort of ‘See? SEE? This is why you have to back Trump and vote GOP in the midterms.’ It also, so I’ll bet they think will put Democrats all over the country back on the defensive. Plenty of polling shows Trump’s once huge advantage on the issue of immigration is gone.
It remains to be seen if this stunt (as I see it being) will work or whether it will backfire but since it’s now done let’s take a closer look at what has taken place today and what led to it. Let’s start with today:
Homeland Security agents searched Representative Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., home on Monday, marking a significant escalation in federal scrutiny of the Minnesota Democrat just over three weeks before Election Day.
“Today in the Washington, D.C., area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice,” a Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson told Newsweek. “This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”
The warrant lists several potential immigration offenses under investigation, including false statements and fraud in immigration paperwork, as well as a general conspiracy charge, The New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the document. Newsweek has not independently reviewed the warrant.
Now let’s look at how we got to today’s events. Omar’s family fled Somalia when she was a child, and they spent years as refugees in Kenya before being granted asylum here, and moving to the U.S. when she was twelve years old. Again, while DHS isn’t providing details journalists working their sources, combined with past statements from DHS’s Markwayne Mullin indicate they are trying to establish Omar’s father (emphasis from me: not Ilhan who wasn’t even quite a teenager but her father) made false statements on the asylum paperwork. She became a U.S. citizen in 2000 at age 17. Another ‘issue’ with Omar is the accusation she married a relative to help get him and other family to the U.S. It got a lot of attention for a while and still gets mentioned. However, despite great scrutiny from both the government (both ours and in Great Britain where the alleged brother-husband is from) and journalists but not a bit of proof was ever found to substantiate the allegation.
I’d like to again emphasize DHS taking the lead. As Newsweek’s article nores they’ve long been investigating Omar and her immigration history. Markwayne Mullin himself has gone on the record in the past and again now:
Last month, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said authorities were examining Omar’s immigration history, including the long-running allegation that she married her brother to help him enter the U.S. Omar has repeatedly denied the allegation, which has not been substantiated.
“There may be more to this, the whole family migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with,” Mullin said.
The linked article also notes earlier this year J.D. Vance said the DOJ was investigating (again) Omar over alleged immigration fraud. Well, Trump and his fluffers have long made claims Omar is an ‘illegal immigrant’ and that her citizenship isn’t valid. Despite the investigations their charges prompted, all of which flopped it could be written off as just ugly misogyny and anti-Muslim bigotry. Not anymore since today’s warrant is in furtherance of a criminal investigation. It’s early afternoon as I write this so we’ll probably get more information as credible journalists work their sources.
For her part Omar has so far hasn’t publicly responded to today’s events. Given she’s now the target of a criminal investigation I’m sure her lawyer(s) don’t want her saying jack. She will of course have to respond. The only question is when and how much she will say. I don’t know about you but I’d keep an eye on the various news shows tonight. It’s a safe bet that Fox’s ‘Three Hour White Power Hour’ and MS NOW will have quite different takes on all this.
If you read Omar’s Wikipedia page you’ll learn about her early life, how she wound up in the U.S. and how her father worked to imbue her with an appreciation for American style democracy. During her formative years she was taught this was a great country and she embraced it despite some ugly treatment (for being Muslim) she has endured along the way starting with bullying in school. As is any American’s right she has spoken up about what she thinks is wrong and can be fixed. Becoming an elected official gave her the means to advocate both for what made this country great, and where we can and should do better. In other words, she’s a freaking American but not to Trump and his ilk. To him/them she has always been an America hating Somali MUSLIM and a ‘double probation secret’ terrorist sympathizer. If not leader. A Manchurian Candidate, Muslim version.
Anyway, despite everything else going on this developing story is likely to gain legs. Facing the prospect of big losses for the GOP conservative outlets will want to flog this to death. On the other hand, Team Trump might have played its hand too early. Today is only Oct. 12 and that gives Omar and her lawyers, and fellow Democrats and actual balanced media to get more details. Enough time that if as I suspect there’s no “there” there it will become another Team Trump legal humiliation. Especially if it turns out DHS/DOJ weren’t fully forthcoming with the judge/magistrate who signed the search warrant. In other words it could blow up in their faces with say a week to go before election day so keep an eye on this.
In the meantime there’s a LOT in the Newsweek article I didn’t get into here. Much more history and details regarding the various attacks by Trump and conservatives against Omar are covered and it’s well worth a few minutes of your time to either get up to speed if you’re not a political junkie, or if you are to get a refresher course.
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