Federal Investigators Subpoena Ilhan Omar’s Sister as Immigration Probe Widens

Federal investigators have subpoenaed the sister of Rep. Ilhan Omar and at least one other person in her family circle, widening the criminal probe into the Minnesota congresswoman’s immigration history, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The subpoenas came one day after Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home. The Justice Department confirmed agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation, and two sources familiar with the probe told Fox News Digital the search involved her immigration paperwork.

According to the Times, which cited people familiar with the investigation, investigators subpoenaed Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and at least one other person in her family circle as they examine possible fraud and false statements in immigration paperwork. Fox News independently reported that subpoenas have gone to multiple family members of Omar.

The Times also reported that investigators have been examining the immigration history of Omar’s family, including whether her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, gave false information or omitted details on immigration forms before becoming a citizen. The precise scope of the investigation remains unclear, and grand jury subpoenas seek evidence and do not, by themselves, mean the recipients are suspected of wrongdoing. Previous federal inquiries into Omar’s immigration history have not resulted in charges.

Probe widens beyond Monday’s home search

Omar has repeatedly denied immigration wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement against her.

“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Omar wrote Monday 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.”

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday he had no advance knowledge of the search, according to the Times. “If there’s a real case there, we’re going to follow the facts,” Vance said. “If there’s not a real case there, then we won’t.”

Birth-year records draw separate questions

Separately, the New York Post reported that Omar’s congressional staff asked the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library in May 2019 to change the birth year listed in her public biography from 1981 to 1982, a discrepancy a former political opponent has questioned while challenging her account of how she became a U.S. citizen.

According to emails reviewed by the Post, the library’s director wrote in a May 24, 2019, email that staff were informed by Omar’s congressional staff that her birth year was incorrect and asked to change it to 1982. The director said the staff were also working with Wikipedia, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and other sources to correct the year.

But the library’s original 1981 entry was not based on a birth certificate or other supporting documentation. In another email cited by the Post, the director said the 1981 date had been drawn from other reference sources and added “without documentation.”

The discrepancy does not establish that Omar falsified immigration records, and neither report established that the biography change prompted Monday’s search. Omar has said she became a citizen through her father’s naturalization in 2000, before she turned 18. Omar fled Somalia’s civil war and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1995 at age 12.

AJ Kern, who unsuccessfully challenged Omar in the 2022 Democratic primary, questioned whether Omar was still a minor when her father became a citizen, the Post reported. Kern told the outlet she filed a Federal Election Commission complaint and sued to demand proof of Omar’s citizenship, and a state judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction.

The immigration developments also come as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, disclosed a separate examination of Omar’s financial disclosures. Speaking Tuesday on Fox News’ “America Reports,” Pirro said her office was investigating the filings, which previously showed the combined reported value of two businesses tied to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, climbed from approximately $15,000 to $51,000 in 2023 to between $6 million and $30 million in 2024. Omar amended the filings in April, reducing the couple’s combined reported assets to between $18,004 and $95,000. Her office said the original disclosures failed to properly account for business liabilities.

In September, the Office of Congressional Conduct voted 5-1 to recommend that the House Ethics Committee dismiss misconduct allegations related to the disclosures, finding no substantial reason to believe Omar reported false or incomplete information. That review is separate from the federal inquiry Pirro described, and it remains unclear whether the financial inquiry is connected to Monday’s search.

President Donald Trump renewed his criticism Tuesday in a statement shared by the White House on X, questioning the change in Omar’s financial filings. “America wants answers, and we want them, NOW!” Trump said.

Reporting based on coverage by Fox News, The New York Times, and the New York Post.