WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Federal prosecutors reportedly obtained DNA evidence while investigating allegations that Rep. Ilhan Omar committed immigration fraud.
  • A source said the DNA could help determine whether Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi to assist his green card effort.
  • Agents searched Omar’s Washington, DC, home on Oct. 12 and removed boxes marked “Seized Property Evidence.”
  • Omar denies wrongdoing, while her attorneys are demanding the return of seized property and challenging the government’s conduct.

Federal prosecutors are planning to use DNA evidence in an effort to prove Rep. Ilhan Omar committed immigration fraud, sources familiar with the investigation told The Post. The Minnesota Democrat is the focus of a federal probe that has stretched across years.

Investigators have used whistleblowers and government records while examining allegations involving Omar and possibly relatives, including her father. The newly obtained DNA is now part of the effort to substantiate claims dating back roughly a decade.

One source said the DNA evidence was critical to proving the allegation that Omar married her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009. The source said the alleged purpose was to help Elmi obtain a green card, though that effort never came to fruition.

It remains unclear whether the DNA was obtained before or after Homeland Security Investigations searched Omar’s Washington, DC, home last Monday. Agents were seen leaving the bungalow with boxes marked “Seized Property Evidence.”

Another source disputed initial reports that investigators had gone “dumpster diving” to collect DNA from Omar, Elmi or relatives. Elmi currently lives in the UK.

Two additional sources said the Oct. 12 search, DNA, and other evidence provided a solid basis for presenting conspiracy charges involving immigration fraud to a grand jury. The investigation began with the Minnesota US Attorney’s Office.

Because the case is being pursued as a general conspiracy, evidence could remain useful even when certain alleged acts fall outside the statute of limitations. Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmini explained how prosecutors could approach that problem.

“If you argue a conspiracy, you can allege overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy that are outside the statute of limitations,” Rahmini said. Prosecutors could pursue a conspiracy case under a statute of limitations lasting 10 years or bring a civil case without such a limitation.

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DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro is also examining matters involving Omar’s finances. Those issues include House disclosure entries that resulted in Omar reducing her stated net worth by tens of millions of dollars because of an unexplained accounting “discrepancy.”

“That judge would not have signed that warrant unless there was probable cause,” Pirro told Fox News. “If there was a crime committed, it will be prosecuted.”

Omar has repeatedly denied allegations that she entered a sibling marriage, beginning when she ran for state representative in 2016. Elmi divorced Omar in 2017 and reportedly withdrew a marriage-based green card application in 2019 after US Citizenship and Immigration Services requested additional evidence, according to The Washington Post.

President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said over the weekend that federal investigators have built “a strong case” that could lead the administration to seek Omar’s denaturalization. Omar has lived in the United States since her family emigrated from Somalia in 1995.

Sources previously said the investigation also involved allegations that Omar or her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misrepresented her birth date so she could become a citizen when he naturalized in 2000. Legal experts said false information on immigration paperwork carries a longer statute of limitations than marriage fraud.

Omar has married three times and divorced twice. She filed joint taxes with Ahmed Hirsi in 2014 and 2015 while legally married to Elmi, and documents reviewed by The Post indicated Omar, Elmi and Hirsi once appeared to share an address.

Her attorneys demanded the immediate return of property seized during the search and accused the government of violating court instructions and Justice Department policy. A DOJ spokesperson called their letter “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies” and said authorities “complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do.”

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