Federal investigators uncovered evidence that Rep. Ilhan Omar entered a sham marriage with a man believed to be her brother during a 2016 probe, but prosecutors let the case die after determining any potential crime fell outside the five-year statute of limitations.
The 2016 investigation into Omar’s marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was jointly run by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, according to a source familiar with the matter. The same source claimed the “Biden US Attorney in Minnesota shut it down” shortly after taking office in 2021.
What specific evidence was uncovered about the marriage to Elmi remains unclear from available reporting. The congresswoman has consistently denied allegations that she married her brother to help him obtain a green card, framing such claims as a racist conspiracy theory pushed by the far-right.
Earlier this month, federal agents executed a search warrant at the Washington, D.C. Home Omar shares with her current husband, Tim Mynett. Agents seized her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers, and her passport during the raid.
Sources have told The Post that investigators are now examining whether Omar was part of a broader family conspiracy to commit immigration fraud. Such a finding could potentially lead to her denaturalization and deportation.
The marriage to Elmi has trailed Omar since before her political career took national shape. At the time the 2016 probe was launched, she was pursuing a seat in Minnesota’s state legislature, not yet the federal officeholder she would become. The allegations have persisted through her rise to Congress and her membership in the progressive “Squad” of Democratic representatives.
Omar, 41, has weathered previous rounds of scrutiny over her marital history without facing charges. The statute of limitations barrier that stalled the 2016 case does not appear to apply to the current investigation, which sources suggest is pursuing the conspiracy angle rather than the original marriage fraud question.
The congresswoman has not publicly addressed the reported DNA evidence or the latest claims about the stalled 2016 investigation. Her representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the renewed coverage.
The Elmi marriage has been dissected in conservative media circles for years, with Omar’s critics pointing to immigration records, social media posts, and family tree research to support their claims. The congresswoman has called such efforts “disgusting lies” designed to smear a Muslim refugee who became one of America’s most visible progressive politicians.
Federal agents also interviewed Omar’s sister as part of the intensifying probe, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The sister’s role in any alleged conspiracy has not been detailed in available reporting.
The current investigation’s focus on potential denaturalization represents a significant escalation from the original 2016 inquiry. While marriage fraud alone carries penalties including fines and imprisonment, a successful denaturalization case would strip Omar of her U.S. Citizenship and could result in deportation to her native Somalia.
Omar came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia in 1995 and became a naturalized citizen in 2000. She was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016 and to Congress in 2018, becoming one of the first two Muslim women to serve in the U.S. House.
The Biden administration’s Justice Department has not publicly confirmed or denied the existence of the 2016 investigation or its reported findings. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, which the source claimed shut down the original case, has similarly declined to comment on the matter.