With one week to go before Election Day, House Democrats are closing ranks around Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota as federal investigators look into her immigration history.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington led 175 members of the House Democratic Caucus in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Attorney General Todd Blanche, Fox News reported Tuesday. The letter blasts the probe as a partisan attack and accuses the administration of trying to sway Omar’s bid for another term.
What Democrats are demanding
“Congresswoman Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in just one week,” the lawmakers wrote. “News of the search warrant, whether properly predicated or not, could affect voters’ decisions, which is exactly why federal law enforcement should not engage in such conduct when voters are casting their ballots.”
They went further, telling Mullin and Blanche: “We stand with Congresswoman Omar and condemn the weaponization of law enforcement against her. You have already disgraced the offices you hold, and we demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election.”
The letter also argues the probe is “driven by a pre-determined political outcome rather than an objective pursuit of justice,” and points to a longstanding Justice Department practice of avoiding investigative steps involving a candidate close to an election when a delay would not jeopardize the case.
What the investigation is about
Federal agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant at Omar’s Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12, seizing multiple phones and notebooks, among other items.
According to Fox News, investigators are looking into allegations that Omar or her father lied about her birth year on immigration paperwork to obtain her citizenship after the family fled Somalia in the late 1990s. If she was 17 when her father became a citizen, as previously thought, she would have automatically qualified along with him. If she was 18 or older, which federal officials now suspect, she would have needed to file her own application.
Democrats counter that the probe concerns paperwork her late father filed when she was a minor, and say that doesn’t justify “a pre-dawn raid on her home.” Fox News also reports Omar faces a second federal probe focused on her finances.
Republicans aren’t backing down
Omar has dismissed the investigation as a political hit job aimed at one of President Trump’s loudest critics. But Republicans, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, have called for Omar to be jailed and deported if the accusations are proven true.
For now, no charges have been announced. But with 175 Democrats putting their names on a letter demanding the administration back off, the fight over Omar’s citizenship has become one of the hottest stories of the final week before the midterms.