US AGENTS SEARCH ILHAN OMAR'S WASHINGTON HOME

US congresswoman Ilhan Omar said federal agents searched her Washington home on 12 October and seized 17 items. The Minnesota Democrat described the search on Wednesday in her first interview since the raid. She said 10 to 15 Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived with a warrant at about 6am. According to Omar, they searched for four to five hours and took phones, notebooks, a Somali children’s book and a vintage camera belonging to her husband. Omar said she would move out because the attention surrounding the search had left her feeling unsafe.

The Justice Department has confirmed a criminal investigation but disclosed little about its scope. A person briefed on the inquiry said investigators were examining possible fraud involving Omar’s family’s immigration documents and had subpoenaed relatives. Omar denied wrongdoing, saying she was “confident in the fact that I didn’t do anything wrong.” She said claims that she had married her brother began on a Somali blog and circulated among critics in Minneapolis. Omar came to the United States after her family received asylum and became a US citizen in 2000.

President Donald Trump called Omar a “sick, very dishonest person who hates our country” at the White House on Tuesday. When reporters asked whether Omar could face deportation over alleged misstatements in her immigration paperwork, Trump said: “Well, she could be. She could also go to jail.” Omar said the early search was intended to frighten her: “You don’t show up to somebody’s house that early in the morning unless you’re trying to freak them out.” Omar is seeking re-election in Minneapolis ahead of the 3 November midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.