Federal prosecutors used statements recorded during a green card interview to pressure a man who had formerly served as a security guard for the Minnesota congresswoman into testifying against her, his attorney confirmed.
Representative Ilhan Omar at the U.S. Capitol in Washington in December. Credit…Eric Lee of The New York Times
Federal prosecutors in the United States earlier this year charged a man who briefly served as Representative Ilhan Omar’s security guard with a felony, in what his attorney described as an extraordinary tactic intended to obtain information that could be used to build a criminal case against the congresswoman.
The case against the guard, Abdullahi Mohamed, who was accused of lying under oath to a government official, sheds light on efforts by the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Ms. Omar, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota who won a fifth term in Congress last week.
Federal prosecutors are revisiting Ms. Omar’s family immigration history as part of a sweeping criminal investigation focused on whether she entered into a sham marriage to help a man suspected of being her brother obtain a green card — an allegation she has repeatedly and forcefully denied. Mr. Mohamed’s case also shows that investigators are simultaneously examining the congresswoman’s finances closely.
The immigration investigation became widely known last month after federal officials searched Ms. Omar’s home in Washington and issued subpoenas ordering several people close to her to appear before a grand jury. Ms. Omar has publicly denied any wrongdoing, describing the investigation as politically motivated pressure led by President Trump, who has long directed racist and hateful attacks at her and other Somali immigrants.
Bruce Rivers, the attorney representing Mr. Mohamed, said prosecutors had spent months trying to turn the former guard into an informant in order to strengthen their case against Ms. Omar. In what he described as a shocking move, Mr. Rivers said prosecutors repeatedly told him and Mr. Mohamed that the investigation into Ms. Omar was “100 percent being run out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” the address of the White House.
“I have never seen anything like this in nearly 28 years of practicing in federal court,” said Mr. Rivers, a veteran Minneapolis attorney who represents criminal defendants.
Justice Department officials — who dropped the case against Mr. Mohamed in September — declined to answer questions about the matter. In a brief email statement, the department said the case “has absolutely nothing to do with any ongoing investigations.” Mr. Mohamed, reached by phone in Nairobi, Kenya, declined to comment last week, saying he would discuss his experience when the “right time” came.
Little was known about the case against Mr. Mohamed, and no previous reports had indicated a connection between him and the investigation of Ms. Omar. Two people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because it involves a sensitive investigation, confirmed that federal law enforcement officials viewed Mr. Mohamed’s application for legal residency as a golden opportunity to obtain evidence against Ms. Omar.
The president and senior members of his administration have repeatedly made clear their desire to see Ms. Omar investigated. In March, at an Oval Office event announcing an anti-fraud commission led by Vice President JD Vance, Mr. Trump said he hoped Ms. Omar would be investigated, describing her as “one of the biggest leaders.”
Later that month, Mr. Vance told a conservative commentator that he had discussed Ms. Omar’s case with Stephen Miller, the White House’s senior adviser, who was promoted last week to chief of staff. Mr. Vance said the two had discussed how to hold people accountable for immigration fraud.
The case against Mr. Mohamed, who holds Somali and British citizenship, began in October 2025 when an immigration officer interviewed him, a routine procedure for green card applicants. He was seeking permanent residency after marrying an American citizen living in Minnesota, according to court records and Mr. Rivers.
During the interview, Mr. Mohamed was asked several questions that were unusual for such interviews, Mr. Rivers said. They included whether he had worked for the Somali government while in the United States and whether he had “any connection with government officials or politicians within the United States.”
Mr. Mohamed, whose knowledge of English was limited, according to Mr. Rivers, answered no to both questions, even though he had briefly served as Ms. Omar’s security guard during an overseas trip and had visited her office on Capitol Hill. He did not understand the questions he was asked, Mr. Rivers said.
His green card application was denied. In February, Mr. Mohamed received a letter from the Justice Department informing him that he was under criminal investigation for allegedly lying to a government official, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
The move was highly unusual for cases of this kind, former federal prosecutors and immigration attorneys said. Immigration officials typically deny a green card when they believe an applicant has lied, but such situations rarely result in criminal charges. Court records show that the case was assigned to two senior prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota: the chief of the criminal division and the chief of the fraud and public corruption division.
In March, federal prosecutors in Minneapolis summoned Mr. Mohamed to a private meeting known as a proffer, where it became clear why investigators were focusing on him and why senior prosecutors had been assigned to what appeared to be a straightforward case, Mr. Rivers said. In such sessions, law enforcement officials question people under criminal investigation after promising them immunity from prosecution for anything they admit that could constitute a crime. Such meetings often pave the way for plea agreements and promises that a person will become a cooperating witness in a case against another prominent individual.
The meeting focused primarily on Ms. Omar, according to Mr. Rivers, who was present. Investigators questioned Mr. Mohamed about Ms. Omar’s journey from Somalia and her marital history, including a 2009 marriage that became the source of allegations of immigration fraud.
They also asked whether he knew about $10,000 that had changed hands between Ms. Omar and a brother of Mr. Mohamed, which investigators characterized as possible bribery, Mr. Rivers said. Court records did not provide details about the government’s view of the money, and officials declined to answer questions about it.
Investigators offered to intervene to prevent Mr. Mohamed from being deported if he provided information damaging to the congresswoman, Mr. Rivers said.
“The overall message was, ‘Give us everything and anything,’” Mr. Rivers said. “It was a blind fishing expedition without a clear direction.”
Jackie Rogers, a spokeswoman for Ms. Omar, said the congresswoman had never directly employed Mr. Mohamed. She called it “regrettable” that the government was accused of promising to help with Mr. Mohamed’s immigration case in exchange for information damaging to the congresswoman’s reputation.
