Officials Say 2016 Federal Probe Found Evidence of Omar Marriage Fraud; No Charges Filed, Omar Denies It

Since federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12, the Justice Department probe into the Minnesota Democrat has widened from a single raid into a story about her marriage, her name and her citizenship paperwork. No charges have been filed.

The newest piece comes from the New York Times, which reported that a 2016 FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigation found evidence Omar committed marriage fraud with Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a man suspected of being her brother. Current and former officials told the Times that prosecutors declined to pursue a felony case because the five-year statute of limitations had expired. The New York Post said it confirmed the 2016 probe.

The specific evidence has not been released. The Post said it is not immediately clear what specific evidence was uncovered about the marriage.

What the 2016 probe is said to have found

Omar legally married Elmi in Hennepin County on Feb. 12, 2009. According to the Times account, Elmi received a provisional two-year green card, tried to make his status permanent, then abandoned the process after immigration officials asked for more information about the marriage. He then left the United States and moved to the United Kingdom.

A source familiar with the probe told the Post that the Biden U.S. Attorney in Minnesota shut it down shortly after taking office in 2021. That claim comes from one anonymous source, and no official has put it on the record.

The Post also quoted a friend of Omar's ex-partner Ahmed Hirsi, who said Hirsi described Elmi as his wife's brother from London. The friend spoke anonymously and Hirsi is not quoted directly.

Omar's denial

Omar has denied the sibling allegation for years. Asked directly by MSNOW whether she is related to Elmi in any way, she answered, "Not to my knowledge." She has broadly denied the allegations as "disgusting lies," and the Post reports she has insisted the claims are a racist conspiracy theory pushed by the far right.

On the name issue, she wrote on X: "So let's make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar."

Snopes reviewed the claims after the raid and concluded the evidence was not enough to support the claim she married her brother or committed immigration fraud, noting that without DNA testing of Omar and Elmi there is no definitive proof they are siblings. Omar told MSNOW she does not believe agents took DNA samples and that no one asked her to provide any. NewsNation reported agents went through her garbage hoping to get DNA, and the Daily Wire reported authorities collected DNA evidence. Those accounts are not confirmed by the Justice Department.

The name filing and the citizenship question

Motions filed by D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro over keeping search-warrant materials sealed referred to "Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." Trump told supporters in Iowa, "She used a fake name to be sworn in. I assume she must immediately have to resign from Congress."

Newsweek noted that the marriage chronology, the tax discrepancy and the use of the Elmi name in the filing do not themselves establish that the two were siblings or that the marriage was fraudulent.

CNN, citing people familiar with the investigation, reported that the Oct. 12 warrant was aimed at whether Omar or her now-deceased father lied about her age when she obtained citizenship in 2000. Applying for citizenship as a minor can streamline the process. Omar says she became a citizen at 17 when her father was naturalized. The Post noted that some records list her birth date as Oct. 4, 1981 and others as Oct. 4, 1982. If 1981 is correct, she would have been of legal age when her father received citizenship and ineligible for the minor benefit.

CNN also reported, citing a law enforcement source, that investigators have interviewed Omar's sister, Sahra Noor. CNN said the Trump administration had pushed for an unusually aggressive search before a federal magistrate judge limited how the Justice Department could access her documents. Sources told the Post that agents seized her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and passport, and that investigators are examining whether Omar was part of a family conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, which could lead to denaturalization and deportation. Those are anonymous claims.

Marriage and tax records

Public records show a tangled timeline. Omar says she and Hirsi married in a religious ceremony but never completed a civil marriage, and separated in 2008. She married Elmi in 2009. She says that relationship ended in 2011 in the eyes of their faith, though no civil divorce followed. Minnesota court records show the marriage was legally dissolved on Dec. 4, 2017.

Omar reconciled with Hirsi, and they had a third child. Newsweek reported that they filed joint federal tax returns in 2014 and 2015 while Omar was still legally married to Elmi. The final report of the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board cited "an issue with her tax returns that needed to be corrected." Her campaign has said her filings were "fully compliant with all applicable tax law."

The political fight

Vice President JD Vance said in May, "It certainly seems like something fishy is there, but everybody's entitled to equal justice under the laws." He later told podcaster Benny Johnson, without offering evidence, that "we actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America." Trump said he had "nothing to do with it" and that the investigation is "up to the DoJ," while calling Omar "totally crooked."

Omar called the search "the latest escalation" in a "campaign of political intimidation" and said she will "not be silenced." House Democratic leaders called it an "abuse of power."

Former President Barack Obama called the investigation "appalling." He said, "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 Daily Wire noted that his statement did not mention the FBI's reported 2016 investigation under his administration.

The Justice Department says only that the search was a judicially authorized part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. It has not said what evidence it holds or whether it will seek charges, and the statute-of-limitations problem the Times describes applies to the marriage itself. The open question is whether prosecutors bring anything on the citizenship paperwork.