Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) spoke out for the first time after her Washington, DC, house was raided, saying on Wednesday, October 21, that allegations that she married her brother were âinsane.âIlhan Omar says 'not to my knowledge' when asked if she's related to ex-husband in first interview after DC raid (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)âNot to my knowledge,â Omar responded, when asked by MS NOWâs Chris Hayes if there was any âweird kernel of truthâ to the claim that she married her brother.The allegations that Omar and her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, tied the knot in a failed effort to get him a green card originated on a âSomali blog.â The claims spread after âright-wing conspiracy theoristsâ latched onto it, Omar said in the interview.âSomebody put in there that, you know, he had to have been my brother or something to that effect,â she said.Omar claimed that bloggers âwent and like found random people who are like .. âShe introduced him to us and said he was her brother,â which is, you know, insane.âAlleged documents previously indicated that Omar suggested she and her husband had a combined net-worth of some $30 million.
She later claimed that it was a mistake and revised it down.On being asked about her current financial situation in light of those documents, she described herself as âworking classâ and living âpaycheck to paycheck.ââI have a Toyota Camry thatâs from 2016. Itâs our only car.
I rent my DC place and my Minneapolis place, and so I mean, I donât know, that sounds like not the majority of Congress, but thereâs some of us that donât come from wealth and donât have wealth,â said Omar.Omar also said that she has no plans to continue to live at the DC home which Homeland Security Investigations agents searched.Also Read | Ilhan Omar citizenship row: Trump officials found no evidence of wrongdoing in 2019 review, report saysâI canât continue to live there, so we have to figure out where to move to,â she said, adding that her address was made public and âwith the death threats that I deal with, itâs no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids like visiting off and on, having people track them.âOmar also asked her supporters to donate to her re-election campaign so she could âfight Trump and his administration for trying to intimidate me and so many other people right before the midterm elections.âWhat Ilhan Omar said about the raidTalking about her initial reaction to the DC raid, Omar said she thought âsomething was on fireâ when federal agents banged on her door.âI thought something was happening to the neighbors. It sounded like an urgent evacuation sort of situation,â she recalled.Omar said that agents âwent room by roomâ and âtook 17 items,â including her cellphones, her daughterâs old cellphone, her husbandâs notebooks, a Somali phrase book and a camera.Omar dismissed claims that investigators obtained her DNA during the search.
Sources earlier told the New York Post that federal prosecutors might use DNA evidence to try to prove that Omar committed immigration fraud. People familiar with the investigation said that the feds used whistleblowers, government records and now obtained DNA in an effort to substantiate allegations that Omar and her family members, like her father, defrauded immigration authorities.âI would have seen if they did take anything that had contained DNA,â she said.She praised HSI agents for leaving the home tidy after completing their search.âThey did a really good job in putting everything back in its place,â she said. âThey actually even folded some of my clothing that were not folded.âAlso Read | Obama condemns probe into Ilhan Omar, says Trump administration is using federal power to intimidate herOmar went on to describe the raid as âintrusive but polite,â adding they âleft the house in good shape.âTom Homan has said that the feds have built âa strong caseâ that could result in the Trump administration seeking to denaturalize Omar.
The congresswoman has lived in the US since her family emigrated from Somalia in 1995.Sources previously said that immigration fraud pertained to either Omar or her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, allegedly misrepresenting the future congresswomanâs birth date in order for her to become a US citizen when her dad naturalized in 2000.Defense attorneys Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz wrote that the feds refused to comply with a magistrate judgeâs âspecial requestsâ for executing the search warrant at Omarâs home and even flouted DOJ policy by conducting it close to an election.âPresident Trump has made no secret of his desire to target Representative Omar for criminal investigation and deportation as retribution for her political advocacy,â they said.In response, a DOJ spokesperson said that the letter was âriddled with false allegations and inaccuracies.ââOur attorneys and law enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do,â the rep added. âLeaking a letter to the press right after sending it is not good faith. It is a publicity play.â

