US President Donald Trump is facing accusations of abusing presidential power after federal agents searched the Washington home of Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
The operation, described by officials as part of a criminal investigation, marked a sharp escalation in the president’s long-running conflict with one of his most outspoken congressional critics.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, accused Mr Trump of “abusing his power to go after political opponents weeks before an election.”
Ms Omar said she was “ok” after the search, but alleged that the administration was targeting her just three weeks before she seeks re-election in the 3 November midterm elections.
Ilhan Omar has been a fierce critic of the Trump administration
“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Ms Omar wrote on X.
“For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.”
The search prompted an angry response from Democrats, who said the president was turning federal agencies into instruments for pursuing political rivals.
Fox News reported that the operation was connected to a criminal fraud investigation involving immigration documents submitted on behalf of the Somali-born congresswoman by her late father during her childhood.
‘She’s a disaster’, says Trump of Ilhan Omar after home raid
Asked about Ms Omar several hours after the search, Mr Trump said she was under investigation “very carefully.”
“I’ve always found her to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me. I think she’s a terrible person, just a complainer. She comes from a country that is a non-country,” he told reporters at the White House.
The Justice Department said agents had executed a “judicially authorised search warrant” in the Washington area, but did not name Ms Omar or provide details about the investigation.
“This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” prosecutors said.
Ms Omar has emerged as one of Mr Trump’s most persistent critics, particularly over his administration’s far-reaching immigration crackdown.
The Republican president has repeatedly attacked Ms Omar, who arrived in the United States from Somalia as a child and has often featured in his political rhetoric.
Political backlash
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership team described the search as “deeply disturbing”, questioning “the continued corrupt weaponisation of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.”
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace said Ms Omar should lose her US citizenship and be deported if fraud were established.
“NO ONE is above the law,” she wrote on X.
The timing was also criticised by Xochitl Hinojosa, a former Justice Department public affairs director.
“There’s a longstanding rule at DOJ that you don’t take overt actions like this before an election, especially when there’s a candidate on the ballot,” she wrote on X.
Democrats accused the administration of weaponising federal agencies
Ms Omar said in September that Homeland Security officials had not contacted her about any investigation and rejected the allegations as politically motivated attacks.
She was first elected to Congress in 2018 and represents a district that includes Minneapolis, home to one of the largest Somali communities in the United States.
She is part of “The Squad”, a group of left-wing Democratic lawmakers who have been among Mr Trump’s most outspoken opponents on Capitol Hill.
No charges against Ms Omar had been announced in connection with the search.
