Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., home Monday morning, Oct. 12, under a judge-authorized warrant. The Justice Department offered no details about the criminal investigation behind the search. Agents carried boxes from the residence. The department said the search formed part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
A warrant, with no public account of the case
The Justice Department said Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a search warrant it secured in the Washington area. People familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that HSI agents conducted the search, but they couldn’t immediately clarify the investigation’s details. They spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Photographs showed Homeland Security officers speaking with residents on 26th Street NE, leaving the home and standing beside unmarked vehicles. An email seeking comment went Monday to a representative for Omar. The department provided no further information, and the available account identified no alleged conduct or charges against her.
The search came weeks before the midterm elections. Omar said she would “not be silenced” and called the search part of President Donald Trump’s “intimidation” campaign. PBS described her accusation as political intimidation by the Trump administration. Those are Omar’s claims; the Justice Department characterized the search as an enforcement action in an ongoing criminal investigation.
Trump’s earlier announcement
Trump announced on Truth Social in January that the Justice Department was investigating Omar. He wrote that Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Somalia, “left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars.” He added, “Time will tell all.” The account includes no financial records or further explanation for Trump’s claim about her reported worth.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed on Fox Business Monday morning that a search warrant had been executed at Omar’s home. Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the state’s highest-profile elected Republican, wrote on X: “Nobody is above the law. HSI just executed a search warrant at Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C. home. We look forward to learning more details about this raid and investigation. ACCOUNTABILITY IS COMING!”
Omar, 44, represents Minnesota’s 5th District, including Minneapolis. She first won election to the House in 2018 and is known as a member of The Squad, a group of female lawmakers known for progressive views and pointed opposition to the Republican president. The Washington Post described the search as intensifying long-standing immigration-related accusations from Republicans against Omar, the nation’s first Somali American lawmaker.
Scrutiny of political opponents
The search came amid other legal scrutiny involving Trump’s critics and political opponents. In August 2025, federal agents raided the home of John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser-turned foreign policy critic. Bolton pleaded guilty to mishandling classified documents in June.
Trump has also sought to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the financial board over accusations of mortgage fraud. Last week, he established a committee of inquiry to investigate Cook and wrote that it was his job to fire “subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law.”
Last September, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to move faster on criminal charges against California Sen. Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey. On Truth Social, he wrote, “they’re all guilty as hell.” He has also floated investigating 2024 election foe Chris Christie over the “Bridgegate” incident that took place while Christie was governor of New Jersey.
The account reports no union response, worker action, financial beneficiary or reform proposal. It offers no details about the evidence sought or the investigation’s subject. The disclosed facts are a federal search authorized by a judge, a department statement without case specifics, and competing political claims about the action.