Ilhan Omar’s lawyers say federal search of his home was ‘neither justified nor legal’ | Ilhan Omar

Ilhan Omar’s lawyers have asked the U.S. Justice Department to return property that federal agents removed from his home days earlier during a search.

Lawyers for the Minnesota Democrat argued the seizure was “neither justified nor legal,” according to a letter reported Friday by The Associated Press.

The federal investigation into Omar was launched just weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, in which Omar is listed on the ballot. Democrats have accused Donald Trump, a Republican, of abusing his power as president to target a political opponent.

Omar’s lawyers wrote that there is “no legitimate basis to suggest that she violated any law regarding her citizenship status,” according to the Wall Street Journal, which was first to report the lawyers’ letter.

“This vindictive, punitive, and politically motivated criminal investigation against one of the President’s leading critics in Congress violates Rep. Omar’s constitutional rights and threatens the separation of powers,” the congresswoman’s lawyers wrote.

The federal government has issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to Omar’s relatives, and seized her phone as part of its investigation into the congresswoman.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the letter from Omar’s defense team was “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies,” according to the AP.

“Our attorneys and law enforcement partners have complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do,” spokeswoman Emily Covington wrote in a text message Friday evening.

The letter from Omar’s lawyers also accused the Justice Department of violating the agency’s longstanding policy of avoiding potentially influencing an election. And they expressed concerns about whether investigators followed the instructions of the magistrate judge who approved the search.

The lawyers requested in the letter that the Justice Department preserve all audio and video recordings taken during Monday’s search.

The Justice Department launched the investigation after years of Trump and conservative media figures spreading unsubstantiated rumors that Omar’s ex-husband was actually her brother — and that she married him so he could obtain immigration status.

Omar, the most prominent Somali American in the United States, has denied the allegation.

Citing sources “close to the investigation,” Fox News reported that Monday’s search was linked to a criminal fraud investigation involving Omar’s immigration documents. Omar’s father filled out these documents when she was a child.

“I’m fine,” Omar posted on X after the raid. “Make no mistake: This is an attempt to target political enemies and militarize federal law enforcement. »

Omar also said the searches were “only the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation.”

The president has regularly launched racist attacks against Omar and other Somali Americans in Minnesota.

In December, he called them “trash” who “come from hell, and they complain and do nothing but slut.”

He said Omar “should be expelled from our country.”

After Monday’s raid, Trump denied being involved in the investigation.

“I always found her totally twisted, personally, but that has nothing to do with me,” Trump said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report