Federal investigators during Barack Obama’s presidency uncovered evidence suggesting that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 2009 marriage may have been fraudulent, according to a newly published report.
Omar’s marriage to British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi has fueled speculation for years. President Donald Trump has repeatedly alleged that the Minnesota congresswoman married her brother.
Current and former law enforcement officials told The New York Times that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security examined the marriage in 2016 and found evidence that appeared to support claims Elmi could have been Omar’s brother.
Omar, who was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a child refugee in 1995, was suspected of marrying Elmi to help him secure a green card.
The investigation eventually stalled after prosecutors determined that any possible offense may have been beyond the five-year statute of limitations, the Times reported.
A separate review of Omar’s immigration history in 2019, during Trump’s first administration, produced a different assessment.
Three former immigration officials told The Washington Post that investigators found no sufficient evidence of misconduct and identified no problems with Omar’s naturalization.
That review considered several of the same issues now being revisited, including allegations involving Omar’s marriage, her age and her father’s immigration records.
An investigation conducted during the Obama era found evidence suggesting that Omar’s long-disputed marriage to British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi may have been a sham
Current and former law enforcement officials told The New York Times that a 2016 inquiry into the Minnesota congresswoman’s marriage uncovered evidence supporting claims that Elmi may have been her brother
The marriage application completed by Ilhan Omar and Ahmed Elmi. A Christian minister officiated at the ceremony in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Omar has consistently denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations about her marriage as a conspiracy theory.
In an interview last week with MS NOW host Chris Hayes, she called the claim that she married her brother “insane.” Omar said the allegation began with a blog post before being promoted by right-wing conspiracy theorists.
Asked by Hayes whether her former husband could have been related to her, Omar answered: “Not to my knowledge.”
Trump seized on the remark during an October 22 rally in Iowa, ridiculing Omar for saying she did not know whether Elmi was related to her.
“She didn’t know whether or not she married her brother. She wasn’t sure,” Trump told supporters, calling it “one of the worst answers I think I’ve ever heard.”
He also called for Omar to resign from Congress and accused her of using a false name when she was sworn in.
Trump pointed to a Justice Department filing that referred to Omar as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.”
Investigators are also reviewing how Omar’s family entered the United States in 1995 and whether her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, provided inaccurate information on immigration documents.
Omar separated from her first husband before marrying Ahmed Elmi in 2009. Source: Ahmed Nur Said Elmi/Facebook
Ilhan Omar pictured as a young girl. A central issue in the immigration review is her birth year, which has appeared as both 1981 and 1982 in official records. Her staff changed the year on her Minnesota Legislature biography from 1981 to 1982 in May 2019.
Rep. Ilhan Omar has said she obtained US citizenship through her Somali-born father, Nur Omar Mohamed, who died in 2020. No naturalization records for Omar or her father have been located
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The Post reported that investigators are examining whether Omar or her father deliberately misstated her birth date so she would qualify for US citizenship through her father after he became a naturalized citizen in 2000.
Authorities are also looking into whether her father left out or falsified details about his previous military service in Somalia.
Omar was born in Somalia in 1982 and arrived in the United States with her family in 1995, when she was approximately 12 or 13 years old.
The current inquiry includes questions about whether her age was correctly recorded in immigration paperwork. Officials who reviewed her file in 2019 said they could not settle the issue conclusively because refugee birth records from Somalia were often unreliable.
Her marital history is also part of the renewed scrutiny.
Public records indicate that Omar legally married Elmi in February 2009.
The couple separated in 2011, although their divorce was not finalized until December 2017.
Elmi had earlier applied to convert his marriage-based conditional green card into permanent status.
The renewed scrutiny began weeks after federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, DC, residence on October 12 as part of a criminal investigation
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has commented on the federal inquiry, saying investigators were pursuing the case and suggesting it could go before a grand jury
A former immigration official cited by The Washington Post said authorities requested more documentation because of concerns about the marriage’s legitimacy. Elmi withdrew the application after receiving that request.
The renewed investigation follows an October 12 search of Omar’s Washington, DC, home by federal agents.
Investigators seized her phone and passport and issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas related to the case, including subpoenas directed to some of her relatives.
The Justice Department has not charged Omar in connection with the allegations.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said investigators remain active and suggested the matter could be presented to a grand jury.
In an October 16 appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show, Mullin said officials anticipated taking the case to a grand jury. His comments, however, did not establish that Omar had committed a crime or that prosecutors had decided to pursue charges.
Omar has accused the Trump administration of using the investigation to intimidate her because of her outspoken criticism of the president.
She has characterized the search of her home as politically motivated, citing Trump’s repeated public attacks against her.
Trump has denied playing a role in the search, while administration officials say law enforcement decisions are guided by the facts and applicable law.
The Justice Department has asked that the search warrant application remain sealed while investigators examine the evidence seized from Omar’s residence.
Prosecutors argued that releasing the material now could compromise the investigation, adding that they had not determined whether charges would be filed or who might face them.
The timing of the search has also drawn attention because it occurred only weeks before the November 3 midterm elections.
