Omar's Lawyers Say Agents Ignored Judge's Search Rules; DOJ Calls Their Letter 'Riddled With False Allegations'

Since Homeland Security agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home on Oct. 12, her legal team has gone on offense. On Friday evening, Oct. 16, attorneys Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz of Hecker Fink LLP sent Justice Department prosecutors a seven-page letter demanding the immediate return of all property taken from the house.

The lawyers call the seizure "neither justified nor lawful." The Justice Department says the letter is "riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies."

What the letter alleges about the search

The core claim is procedural. A U.S. magistrate judge approved the warrant but attached conditions, since Omar is a sitting member of Congress with Speech or Debate Clause protections. Her lawyers say agents did not follow them.

According to the letter, investigators were required to give Omar's attorneys a copy of the warrant and to contact the House Office of General Counsel before the search. The lawyers say the House counsel's office was not notified until after the search was publicly reported.

The letter also says no one from the U.S. attorney's office or the Justice Department was present to advise Omar of her Speech or Debate privileges. Instead, her lawyers say, she was handed a waiver, which she did not sign. They say that left no opportunity to identify and set aside legislative materials that federal agents are not supposed to take.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the seized items include her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and passport.

The demands and the deadline

Beyond returning the property, the letter asks the department to preserve all audio and video recorded inside the home. It wants copies delivered to Omar's counsel within five days. It also asks for any records of Homeland Security Investigations' reported 2019 review of Omar's immigration status.

The lawyers also cite a Washington Post report that Anthony Salisbury, a White House official, sits on the investigative team. They argue that points to direct White House involvement. The Post has reported that Homeland Security Investigations is examining whether Omar or relatives lied on decades-old immigration paperwork.

The Justice Department's response

DOJ spokesperson Emily Covington said in a text message Friday evening: "Our attorneys and law enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do."

A department statement went further. "Leaking a letter to the press right after sending it is not good faith. It is a publicity play." The Department of Homeland Security, whose agents led the search, referred all questions to the Justice Department.

The letter is the first detailed public statement of the defense Omar's team could bring to court if she is ever charged. A judge approved the warrant, and the DOJ's position is that every condition was honored. The two accounts of what happened inside the house cannot both be right, and no judge has yet ruled on either.

Timing and the 60-day practice

Omar's lawyers also say the search violated Justice Department policy against taking investigative steps that could influence an election. Election Day is Nov. 3, and the search came 22 days before it. The letter says the department has historically avoided such activity this close to a vote "so as to avoid even the appearance of politically motivated law enforcement actions."

Former federal prosecutors have said the same. B. Todd Jones, who served two terms as Minnesota's U.S. attorney under Presidents Clinton and Obama, said there was always "a high level of sensitivity about doing things close to an election cycle." Former Alabama U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote on X: "Another hard norm out the window."

The 60-day practice is informal, and it generally applies where a matter can wait without jeopardizing a case. Searches of lawmakers' homes have precedent. Former Sen. Bob Menendez's was followed by charges in 2023, and Rep. Henry Cuellar's by a 2024 indictment. But those were FBI operations. This one was run by Homeland Security Investigations, which signals the inquiry could pertain to immigration matters.

The lawyers said in the letter that there is "no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status." Omar says she fled Somalia in 1995 and became a naturalized citizen in 2000.

What is known about the probe itself

The scope remains murky. A person briefed on the investigation told the Associated Press that the government has issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of Omar's relatives. CNN, citing multiple people familiar with the investigation, reported the probe covers possible false statements on government documents and a potential conspiracy. Fox News, citing sources close to the investigation, reported it concerns paperwork Omar's father filled out when she was a child.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has suggested authorities are examining potential crimes tied to her family's immigration paperwork. Omar has denied years of claims, promoted by President Trump and conservative media figures, that her former husband is actually her brother and that she married him to secure immigration status.

Omar has called the search an attempt to "target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement." Democrats have accused Trump of abusing his power to go after a critic.

No charges have been filed against Omar. The Justice Department has not said whether it will return the seized items or meet the five-day deadline for the recordings. If it refuses, a court filing from Omar's lawyers over the search conditions is the likely next step, with voters choosing on Nov. 3 whether she wins a fifth term.