Ilhan Omar Probe Escalates: DNA Evidence, Grand Jury Subpoenas and Conspiracy Charges

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are preparing to deploy DNA evidence in the criminal investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, according to people familiar with the probe, in a dramatic escalation of an inquiry that has already brought a predawn search of the congresswoman's Washington home, the seizure of her cellphone, and more than a dozen grand-jury subpoenas directed at her and members of her family.

The DNA, the sources told the New York Post this week, is considered critical to proving the decade-old allegation at the heart of the case: that Omar's 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was in fact a marriage to her own brother, contracted so he could obtain a green card he never received. Omar has rejected the claim since it first surfaced in 2016, calling it "disgusting lies." No charges have been filed against anyone, and the Justice Department has not confirmed that it possesses DNA evidence.

A Predawn Raid Brings the Inquiry Into the Open

The inquiry burst into public view on October 12, when agents from Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant at Omar's Washington residence in the predawn hours. Federal officials removed boxes of documents, computers, her passport and her personal cellphone, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The Justice Department confirmed only that the operation was part of "an ongoing federal criminal investigation" and declined to elaborate.

Within days, the scale of the evidence-gathering became clearer. The Associated Press reported that investigators had issued more than a dozen grand-jury subpoenas — some to Omar's relatives — and that a federal grand jury in Minnesota, where the U.S. Attorney's Office opened the case, is collecting evidence. The subpoena targets extend beyond the congresswoman's own records, suggesting prosecutors are building a case around testimony and documents held by people close to her. Omar's sister has reportedly spoken voluntarily with investigators.

According to NewsNation, federal agents collected garbage outside residences before the October 12 search in hopes of recovering DNA from Omar and her family — a legally permitted technique that law enforcement has historically used when warrants were unavailable or would have alerted a target. One source cited by the Post, however, pushed back on the characterization of agents "dumpster diving" for swabs from Omar, Elmi — who is reported to be living in the United Kingdom — or other relatives.

Two additional sources told the Post that the October 12 search, combined with the DNA material and other evidence, has given prosecutors a solid basis to present conspiracy charges involving immigration fraud to a grand jury. The conspiracy framing matters legally: it can allow prosecutors to reach conduct that might otherwise fall outside the statute of limitations. "If you argue a conspiracy, you can allege overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy that are outside the statute of limitations," Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, said, adding that prosecutors could also pursue a 10-year limitations case or a civil case without such a limit.

The Investigation Widens Beyond Immigration

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has described the investigation in unusually blunt terms. In a podcast interview reported by CBS News, Mullin said agents served multiple warrants on October 12, called the investigation a "strong case," and said investigators expect to present their evidence to a grand jury. He raised the possibility that organized immigration fraud could be charged under RICO, the federal racketeering statute.

The scrutiny is no longer confined to immigration paperwork. A day after the raid, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro confirmed that Omar is also the subject of a second investigation examining her finances. House Oversight Chair James Comer has separately questioned entries in Omar's House financial disclosures, which showed her sharply reducing her stated net worth after what was described as an 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 Fights Back as Allies and Critics Dig In

Omar, meanwhile, has cast the probe as political warfare. After the search, she called it the "latest escalation" in the Trump administration's "intimidation" campaign and said she "will not be silenced," accusing the administration of attempting "to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement." Her attorneys have demanded the return of her phone and other seized items, arguing in a letter leaked to the Associated Press that the search was "neither justified nor lawful." The lawyers also alleged that agents failed to provide Omar a copy of the warrant at the outset and kept her from reaching her attorney for more than an hour. A Justice Department spokesperson dismissed the letter as "riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies" and said the department followed every court order.

The political fallout has been immediate. Vice President Vance said last week that the administration would "let the law follow the facts, rather than creating facts just to prosecute people we don't like," while acknowledging "serious allegations" against Omar. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 Republican in the House, told Fox News Digital that if the allegations are proven, Omar should face jail and deportation: "She should go back to where she came from," he said. Omar immigrated to the United States in 1995 as a 12-year-old refugee and is seeking re-election in Minnesota's 5th District with the midterm elections roughly three weeks away.

The Legal Road Ahead

Legal experts note that whatever prosecutors allege, denaturalization — the stripping of citizenship — is legally rare and requires courts to prove that citizenship was obtained through willful misrepresentation, a high evidentiary bar that would demand separate filings. The alleged conduct under investigation dates back decades: the marriage in question occurred in 2009, and Elmi divorced Omar in 2017, later withdrawing a marriage-based green-card application in 2019 after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requested additional evidence, according to the Washington Post. The subpoena trail, however, suggests investigators believe they can connect older paperwork to more recent conduct.

The probe is also testing the special protections that surround a sitting member of Congress. The Constitution's speech-or-debate clause shields a lawmaker's legislative work from executive-branch intrusion, a boundary that Omar's attorneys appear ready to litigate if prosecutors attempt to use material seized from her devices. How the Justice Department threads that protection could shape not only this case but future investigations of sitting lawmakers.

For now, the machinery of a federal prosecution is visibly in motion: a grand jury convening in Minnesota, family members drawn into the evidence-gathering process, DNA under analysis, and a second financial investigation running in parallel. Whether it ends in charges, a closed file, or years of litigation is unknown. What is certain is that Washington politics will be watching every development — and News Plus Globe will be tracking the story on its live news desk as it unfolds.