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A federal judge who has become a frequent legal thorn in the side of President Donald Trump and his allies is now presiding over a fight to unseal the warrant used to search the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
The battle over whether to unseal the search warrant comes amid two separate federal investigations into the Democratic congresswoman, stemming from concerns over discrepancies between financial disclosures filed a year apart and allegations that her father committed fraud in filing immigration paperwork. Omar immigrated to the United States from Somalia in 1995, when she was 12 years old. Investigators are looking into whether her father misstated her age on his citizenship documents in 2000, which could allow her to obtain citizenship through him as a minor.
Trump, a longtime foe of the progressive congresswoman, has been vocal about his attacks on Omar, also accusing her of committing immigration fraud by allegedly marrying her brother – referring to her first husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. In the weeks following the October 12 raid on Omar’s Washington, D.C., home, Trump called for Omar to be “put in jail.”
Trump says Ilhan Omar could go to jail or be deported, calls her a ‘disgrace to our country’
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is seen in an official portrait in Washington, DC, March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
But the fight over whether to unseal the records is being overseen by Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, an Obama appointee and longtime Trump target. In March 2025, after Boasberg temporarily blocked deportation flights carrying suspected Venezuelan gang members, Trump called him a “radical left lunatic of a judge, troublemaker and agitator” and called for his impeachment. Trump also accused Boasberg of bias, saying it was “virtually impossible for me to get an honest decision in Washington.”
The search of Omar’s home took place just weeks before the midterm elections, as allegations of fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs had become a major political issue in the state.
Ilhan Omar’s turbulent week explained: the dueling probes that plunged the Somali-born progressive into chaos
Rep. Ilhan Omar arrives at Karmel Mall from Somalia to attend Friday prayers at Karmel Masjid in Minneapolis. Min. Friday October 23, 2026. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
Days after the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI conducted a search of Omar’s home pursuant to a search warrant issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh, three separate requests were made to unseal the warrant: by the New York Times; Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group; and 14 news organizations.
Boasberg ordered the Justice Department to defend its position on keeping the warrant sealed in response to a joint request from the Times and 14 news outlets by Oct. 22, but he extended the deadline following a Justice Department request to wait until the search warrant was “fully executed.”
The Justice Department argued that disclosing this information could compromise the integrity of the investigation.
“This request seems thoughtless because it is thoughtless,” Pirro wrote. “The Court should dismiss it without prejudice to renewal once the search warrant has been fully executed and a charging decision has been made public.”
The filing indicated that the Justice Department was still executing the search warrant, while other details about the investigation and warrant records remained redacted from the public record.
But the Times and other media groups say the physical search took place weeks ago and that any sensitive information in the warrant should be redacted rather than the entire warrant being withheld.
Meanwhile, Omar is engaged in another dispute with the Justice Department. His lawyers demanded the return of property seized from his home, arguing that the agents violated his job protections in Congress. They also alleged that the agents failed to provide her with a copy of the warrant and prevented her from contacting her attorneys during the search.
FEDERAL AGENTS SEIZE REP. ILHAN OMAR’S PHONE IN RAID RELATED TO IMMIGRATION FRAUD INVESTIGATION
Boasberg’s oversight of efforts to unseal the records follows a series of decisions that drew criticism from Trump and his allies. In June 2025, he ordered federal agencies to preserve Signal messages exchanged by senior officials during discussions about U.S. military strikes in Yemen, saying those communications could constitute federal records. During the Biden administration’s Arctic Frost investigation, he signed nondisclosure orders barring phone carriers from informing Republican lawmakers that prosecutors had subpoenaed their records.
Boasberg also drew criticism over the conviction of former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. Clinesmith pleaded guilty to altering an email used in a request to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to renew surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of acting as a Russian agent.
Boasberg, who previously served a seven-year term on the FISA court, said Clinesmith’s alteration of the email damaged the integrity of the court, but it was an ill-advised mistake that brought no personal benefit to Clinesmith. He sentenced Clinesmith to 12 months of probation and 400 hours of community service.
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Boasberg said in his sentencing decision that he believed Clinesmith’s role at the center of a years-long media “hurricane” had meted out sufficient punishment.
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