175 House Democrats Call For Halt To Ilhan Omar Investigation
Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times,
Scores of House Democrats have called for an end to the federal investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), claiming it could affect her reelection bid in next month's midterm elections.
A letter, signed by 175 Democratic congresspersons, accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of engaging in the "weaponization of law enforcement," calling such a move "unprecedented and unacceptable."
Dated Oct. 26 and led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the letter was addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. It states that the DOJ has "long followed a policy not to take investigative steps relating to a candidate this close to an election if delaying the action will not jeopardize a criminal investigation."
The lawmakers pointed out that Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District and that news of the search warrant - executed on her Washington apartment by DHS agents on Oct. 12 - "whether properly predicated or not, could affect voters' decisions" at the polls on Nov. 3.
The move "strips Minnesotans of their right to a free and fair election guaranteed to them under the Constitution," they said.
The lawmakers said the actions of the DOJ and DHS are "clearly driven by a pre-determined political outcome rather than an objective pursuit of justice," and rejected the basis of the probe, namely that Omar's now-deceased father lied about her age on immigration papers to get her citizenship after the family fled Somalia in the 1990s amid a civil war.
"We demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election," the lawmakers said.
The Epoch Times contacted the DOJ and DHS for comment but received no response by publication time.
Omar, 44, has since said she will have to move out of the apartment, following death threats she has received in the wake of the raid.
She also said Homeland Security Investigations agents seized 17 items from her home, including phones and notebooks.
Omar has maintained that she "didn't do anything wrong" and that the current investigation into her is "politically motivated."
Omar became a state representative in Minnesota in 2017 and a U.S. representative in 2019. Her district covers Minneapolis and some surrounding areas.
Several administration officials, including President Donald Trump himself, have expressed forthright opinions about Omar's situation.
When asked about the investigation into Omar in the Oval Office on Oct. 21, Trump said that if it was discovered she had committed immigration fraud, she could be deported or go to prison.
"They keep talking about deportation; no, she could go to jail," the president told reporters, adding that, in his opinion, Omar is a "very dishonest person ... who hates our country."
Border czar Tom Homan has said she could be denaturalized if investigators find that she lied when applying for U.S. citizenship.
Homan said in an Oct. 17 interview with Fox News that investigators have "a strong case" in their ongoing investigation into Omar but declined to provide specific details.
"If she violated a law, then she'll be held accountable. I don't have the specifics of the evidence they have, line by line, but we'll see where it leads," he told the media outlet.
When asked whether Omar could be stripped of her U.S. citizenship and deported, Homan said: "Of course, if you lie during the naturalization process, there is a process to denaturalize somebody.
"We've done it before. It's a long, tedious process, but it's been done before."