US federal prosecutors are reportedly considering
using DNA evidence to support allegations of immigration fraud against Rep.
Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), as part of a wider investigation into the congresswoman.
Sources told the New York Post that investigators have
relied on whistleblowers and government records, and have now obtained DNA
evidence, in a years-long criminal probe into decade-old allegations. The
allegations are that Omar, and possibly members of her family including her
father, defrauded US immigration authorities.
One source said the DNA evidence was critical to
proving the claim that Omar married her brother when she wed Ahmed Nur Said
Elmi in 2009, in an effort to help him obtain a green card, which never
materialised. It is unclear whether the DNA was collected before or after
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) searched her Washington, DC, home on
Monday, October 12, when federal agents were seen leaving with boxes marked
"Seized Property Evidence." Another source disputed initial reports
that investigators had gone "dumpster diving" to obtain DNA swabs
from Elmi, who now lives in the UK, or from family members.
Two other sources said the search warrant, together
with the DNA and other evidence, has given prosecutors a solid basis to take
conspiracy-to-commit-immigration-fraud charges to a grand jury, stemming from a
probe started by the Minnesota US Attorney's Office. Former federal prosecutor
Neama Rahmini explained that when prosecutors argue a conspiracy, they can
allege overt acts outside the statute of limitations.
Separately, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro is
investigating Omar's finances, including House disclosure entries that cut her
reported net worth by tens of millions of dollars in the past year because of
an unexplained accounting "discrepancy." Pirro told Fox News that the
judge would not have signed the warrant without probable cause, adding that if
a crime was committed, it will be prosecuted.
The marriage allegation has circulated in Minnesota
and DC political circles for more than a decade. Omar has repeatedly denied it
since 2016, when she first ran for office as a state representative. According
to The Washington Post, Elmi, who divorced Omar in 2017, applied for a
marriage-based green card in 2019 but withdrew the application when US
Citizenship and Immigration Services asked for additional evidence about the
marriage.
President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, said
over the weekend that federal authorities have built "a strong case"
that could lead the administration to seek Omar's denaturalisation. Omar has
lived in the US since her family emigrated from war-torn Somalia in 1995.
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