Obama-Era Feds Found Some Evidence Of Rep. Omar Sham Marriage: NYT

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Federal investigators found some evidence in 2016 that U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar's 2009 marriage was a sham meant to secure a green card for a man they suspected was her brother, current and former law enforcement officials told The New York Times.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security looked into Omar's 2009 marriage in summer 2016, during the Obama administration, and found evidence suggesting she and her then-husband were siblings, the officials said.

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The case stalled mainly because prosecutors concluded the possible felony fell outside a five-year statute of limitations. The Times reported Thursday that the marriage is now under renewed scrutiny as part of the Trump administration's broader investigation of the congresswoman.

The man, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is a British citizen Omar divorced in 2017. Officials told the paper he received a provisional green card based on the marriage, then left the country and abandoned his petition after immigration officials asked for more proof the marriage was valid. It's unclear exactly what evidence prosecutors had then, or have now, that Elmi is her brother. Elmi did not respond to the Times' requests for comment.

The report also revisits a 2016 letter from Andrew Luger, then the U.S. attorney in Minnesota, saying his office was not investigating Omar, which her campaign cited as vindication. Luger told the Times the letter was only meant to rebut an erroneous news report and was never intended to speak to the substance of the claims.

Omar has long called the brother allegation a right-wing conspiracy theory. Her spokeswoman, Jackie Rogers, said in a statement that the congresswoman has repeatedly denied it, calling it a baseless political smear.

The renewed focus on the marriage comes about two weeks after Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar's Washington home on Oct. 12. Federal authorities have since seized Omar's phone and issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some of her relatives, according to The Associated Press, which cited a person briefed on the probe.

The Washington Post has reported that the investigation centers on whether Omar or her late father lied on decades-old immigration paperwork, including information about her birth date, to secure legal status and eventually citizenship.

In an Oct. 21 court filing, prosecutors referred to the congresswoman as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar" without explaining the relationship between the names, Al Jazeera reported. President Donald Trump seized on the similarity to her ex-husband's name and called on her to resign. Omar has said her name has always been Ilhan Omar.

Asked in an MS NOW interview last week whether Elmi is her brother, she answered, "Not to my knowledge."

The Justice Department is also fighting a request from 15 news outlets, including the Times, to unseal the search warrant and related records, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

Omar has denied wrongdoing, and Democrats have condemned the investigation as political persecution so close to Election Day. Omar is seeking a fifth term in the Nov. 3 general election.