US Representative Ilhan Omar says she will move out of her Washington, DC, home after federal agents searched it, citing death threats and concern for her children.
In her first public interview since the October 12 search, the Minnesota Democrat told MS NOW’s Chris Hayes that the home’s address had become public and she no longer felt it was safe for her family.
“With the death threats that I deal with, it’s no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids,” she said.
Omar said her children visit the home and she did not want people tracking them.
She said she was working out where to move but intended to continue serving in Congress.
“I’m confident in the fact that I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said in the interview.
Agents seized 17 items, Omar says
Omar said Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived at about 6 am with a search warrant and spent four to five hours searching the house.
She said they seized 17 items, including phones, notebooks, a Somali-language children’s book and a vintage camera belonging to her husband.
The Justice Department has described the search as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation but has not publicly identified a suspected crime.
The Associated Press, citing a person briefed on the investigation, reported that authorities were examining potential fraud in immigration paperwork involving Omar’s family and had issued grand jury subpoenas to some relatives.
Omar’s office condemned the search as an abuse of power and said she had done nothing wrong.
Omar has accused the Trump administration of targeting her, while President Donald Trump told reporters he had nothing to do with the search, according to CBS News.
The search has renewed scrutiny of Omar’s immigration history.
She was born in Somalia and came to the United States with her family at age 12 after they received asylum.
She became a US citizen in 2000, five years after arriving in the country.
The search follows public comments by Trump administration officials questioning her immigration history and raising the possibility of action against her citizenship if wrongdoing were established.
Omar has rejected claims that she committed wrongdoing.
No criminal charge against her has been announced.
Omar, a Democrat representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, has frequently clashed with Trump, who has criticised her publicly.
The search has drawn condemnation from congressional Democrats, who have questioned its timing ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
Omar said agents were “intrusive but polite” and returned items they did not take to their places.
She said the search rattled her and that the publication of her address, alongside the threats she receives, had changed whether her family could safely stay in the home.
