Ilhan Omar's Lawyers Say Agents Ignored a Judge's Safeguards When They Searched Her Home
The congresswoman's attorneys demand her seized property back and call the investigation politically motivated. The Justice Department says the letter is "riddled with false allegations."
By Watchman Report staff ·
Attorneys for Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., have accused the Justice Department of violating a magistrate judge's order during the Oct. 12 search of her Washington home, CBS News reported. In an Oct. 16 letter, lawyers Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz asked the government to immediately return her property, including her personal cellphone, and to preserve all video and audio recordings of the search. Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out the warrant as part of a criminal investigation into her family's immigration paperwork for possible fraud and false statements.
The judge had required protocols to protect Omar's legislative privileges under the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause. The letter says agents never notified Omar and the House Office of General Counsel as required and kept her from contacting her attorney for more than an hour, even though she was supposed to receive a copy of the warrant at the start. Her lawyers called it a "vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated criminal investigation" and said the search "was neither justified nor lawful."
A Justice Department spokesperson said the letter was "riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies" and that "our attorneys and law enforcement partners complied with all court orders and legal obligations." CBS noted that Justice Department guidelines tell prosecutors to avoid overt investigative steps that could affect an election. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called it a "strong case" in a podcast interview Friday and said investigators expect to go to a grand jury. Omar has not been charged.
Everything above this line is reported fact, attributed to the sources listed. The Scripture Connection is our interpretation, offered by Christians who read the whole Bible, Old and New Testament, with an Israelite-rooted understanding.
