Dems Sign Letter Defending Ilhan Omar — But A Key Democrat Is Missing - 10.28.26

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been busy campaigning with the anti-American trench coat enthusiast Hasan Piker.

In the meantime her loyal defenders in Congress have been signing on to a letter of support for the Minnesota pol.

And while she is getting plenty of support from her colleagues on the left side of the aisle, there are 40 Dems who declined to sign on.

One of those 40? Former Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Over the years, Pelosi has made her disdain for the Squad members clear.

"Over the years, Pelosi has made her disdain for the Squad members clear."

Even so, refusing to show support may mean the octogenarian knows backing Omar is not the smart play right now.

The letter, led by Rep. Jayapal, reads as follows:

Dear Attorney General Blanche and Secretary Mullin:

We write to express our unequivocal opposition to your raid of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s home. We are profoundly alarmed by your weaponization of federal law enforcement against her and demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of any upcoming election.

Around dawn on Monday, October 12, agents from Homeland Security Investigations at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) executed a search warrant on Congresswoman Omar’s home in Washington, D.C. Investigators were seen carrying out boxes of documents from the home, and reportedly obtained her DNA, personal phone, and passport. Both the White House and the Department of Justice (DOJ) acknowledged that DOJ secured the search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

This weaponization of law enforcement to harass a sitting Member of Congress 22 days before an election is unprecedented and unacceptable. DOJ has long followed a policy not to take investigative steps relating to a candidate this close to an election if delaying the action will not jeopardize a criminal investigation,1 a policy which Attorney General Blanche has previously invoked as far back as nine months before an election.2 Congresswoman Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in just one week. News of the search warrant, whether properly predicated or not, could affect voters’ decisions which is exactly why federal law enforcement should not engage in such conduct when voters are casting their ballots. This type of interference strips Minnesotans of their right to a free and fair election guaranteed to them under the Constitution.

Your actions are clearly driven by a pre-determined political outcome rather than an objective pursuit of justice. Your probe into the Congresswoman reportedly concerns her late father’s filing of immigration paperwork after she fled Somalia’s civil war at age eight, making her a U.S. citizen at age seventeen. This does not justify a pre-dawn raid on her home for paperwork her father filed when she was a minor. Indeed, reports indicate that the first Trump Administration conducted a probe into this exact matter in 2019 and “ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.”3 That, however, has not stopped a group of Trump Administration officials from baselessly asserting criminal activity has occurred. In March of this year, Vice President J.D. Vance pre-emptively concluded that she “definitely committed immigration fraud” and asked White House advisor Stephen Miller to “go after her” well before DOJ or DHS completed its investigation.4 Secretary Mullin also hinted at this raid last month when he said, “something’s going to happen” with Congresswoman Omar.5 Shortly after the raid, Miller’s wife gloated in a since-deleted social media post, “Promise made, promise kept.”6 Political attacks should play no role in federal law enforcement, but they have here.

This would not be the first time that your Administration has prioritized retribution over its responsibility to apply the laws without fear or favor: your investigation into Congresswoman Omar follows a long line of flimsy criminal cases against the President’s perceived political enemies. Thankfully thus far, your attempts to retaliate against government officials for simply doing their job have fallen short: federal judges have dismissed indictments filed against former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey and current New York State Attorney General Letitia James,7 while a grand jury refused to indict six sitting Members of Congress for reminding servicemembers of their duty to object to illegal orders.8 Pending charges against Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for exercising her constitutionally protected right to oversee an immigration detention facility in her congressional district are similarly baseless. Your unprecedented attempt to influence an election through federal law enforcement will also fail but the attempt itself is incompatible with our democracy.

Your search warrant marks a dramatic escalation of an almost decade-long campaign of attacks on Congresswoman Omar. Since entering Congress in 2019, she has been the target of baseless lies and smear campaigns from President Trump, who has told her to go back to her country of origin, called her “garbage,” and incited chants on the campaign trail to deport her.9 He also has sent armed federal agents to her district to target Somali immigrants, leading to the deaths of two Americans in broad daylight.10 And while claiming to have “nothing to do” with the search warrant, he repeated his attacks on her when asked about the raid, calling her “totally crooked” and a “terrible person.”11 Political disagreements never justify intimidation, and no president should use the power of the federal government to threaten, silence, or intimidate political opponents.

We stand with Congresswoman Omar and condemn the weaponization of law enforcement against her. You have already disgraced the offices you hold, and we demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election.