The key facts
- HSI agents searched Omar's home at around 06:00 on October 12, seizing 17 items, including phones, notebooks and her husband's 1960s camera
- Omar said that due to death threats she has had to move out, fearing her address has been exposed; more than a dozen subpoenas have been issued to members of her family
- Obama called the investigation 'outrageous,' Trump denies involvement, and Omar disagrees with him
Omar announced the move after the search
Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar said in her first public interview since the search that she can no longer live in her Washington home because she fears her address has been exposed. 'Given the death threats I face, being in that house with my children is no longer feasible,' she said on MS NOW.
How the search unfolded
According to Omar, at around 06:00 Eastern time on October 12, agents began 'banging on the doors' of her home, waking her and her husband. She called what happened 'so strange' and said they were 'shouting' as they came downstairs. By her estimate, between 15 and 25 agents surrounded the house; she noted that all of them 'behaved professionally.' After her demand, the agents presented a warrant. Then, according to her account, they spent about five hours going through the rooms and ultimately took 17 items, including several mobile phones, notebooks and her husband's 1960s camera. According to media reports, her personal computers and passport were also among the items seized.
The investigation and the authorities' response
Homeland Security Investigations agents conducted the search as part of what authorities described as an 'ongoing federal criminal investigation.' The government has not said what crime Omar is accused of. More than a dozen subpoenas have been issued to members of the congresswoman's family. The BBC sought comment from the Justice Department after being redirected from DHS. The search followed repeated statements by officials questioning Omar's citizenship, which she received in 2000 after arriving from Kenya.
Politicians' reactions
Immediately after the search, Omar called it an 'egregious abuse of power' and 'the weaponization of federal law enforcement against political enemies.' Former President Barack Obama, in an extensive statement, called the investigation 'utterly outrageous.' President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly told Omar to 'go back' to Somalia, denies involvement in the investigation, saying it has 'nothing to do with me.' At an October rally in Ohio, he said of the search: 'I don't know what they're doing with it, but I'll say one thing: she's a disaster.' Omar rejected his position: 'He has everything to do with all of this. This goes back to 2019, when he was shouting that I should be sent back.'
Image source, Getty Images 
