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Obama Admin Found Evidence Suggesting Omar Married Brother
Confirmed
In Short: The Obama-era Department of Justice and Homeland Security found some evidence suggesting Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) married her brother to help him obtain a green card, according to a report by The New York Times.
The investigation, which began under the Obama administration, stalled because prosecutors concluded that the potential crime fell outside a five-year statute of limitations.
In a recent court filing, the Justice Department referred to Omar as Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, even though she divorced Elmi in 2017.
Omar has repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother or that their marriage was intended to secure immigration benefits, calling the allegation a racist conspiracy theory.
Sources told The Post investigators are looking into whether Omar was part of a family conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, which could lead to her deportation.
A 2019 review by the Minneapolis Star Tribune said available records could neither confirm nor disprove that Elmi was Omar's brother.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security under former President Barack Obama found evidence that Rep. Ilhan Omar committed marriage fraud with a man suspected of being her brother.
The allegations raise two potential criminal issues for the Democrat congresswoman as federal law prohibits knowingly entering a marriage only to obtain a green card, and all 50 states prohibit siblings from marrying.
In a court filing this week, prosecutors asked to keep the search-warrant application sealed while investigators review evidence, saying its release could jeopardize the inquiry.
Agents seized Omar’s cell phone, passport, and DNA during a pre-dawn raid at her Washington, D.C. rental house on October 21.
The revelations come as President Donald Trump’s Justice Department pursues a separate criminal investigation into the congresswoman’s immigration history.
Omar allegedly married her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in 2009 to help him obtain a green card.
A marriage certificate for Omar’s sister lists their father as being named “Nur Said Elmi.”
What this adds
The investigation into Omar's marriage fraud allegations began under the Obama administration but was not pursued due to the statute of limitations.
What's confirmed
- “The F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security investigated the marriage in summer 2016, during the Obama administration, and found some evidence that it was fraudulent, current and former officials said,” reports the Times.
- In a recent court filing, and even though she divorced Elmi in 2017, the Justice Department referred to Omar as Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.
- A technicality… “[T]hat case stalled chiefly because prosecutors concluded that the potential crime, a felony, fell outside a five-year statute of limitations,” adds the Times.
- The FBI and Department of Homeland Security under former President Barack Obama found evidence that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) committed marriage fraud with a man suspected of being her brother, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
- The allegations raise two potential criminal issues for the Democrat congresswoman as federal law prohibits knowingly entering a marriage only to obtain a green card, and all 50 states prohibit siblings from marrying.
- Citing unnamed sources, the media outlet said prosecutors did not pursue the case involving Omar and Ahmed Nur Said Elmi because they believed the potential false-statement charges were outside the five-year statute of limitations.
- The outlet said it was unclear what specific evidence investigators collected, adding that a source said a "Biden US Attorney in Minnesota shut it down" shortly after taking office in 2021.
- Omar, a Democrat who represents Minnesota, has repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother or that their marriage was intended to secure immigration benefits, calling the allegation a racist conspiracy theory.
- A 2019 review by the Minneapolis Star Tribune said available records could neither confirm nor disprove that Elmi was Omar's brother.
What's still developing
- By her own account in her 2020 memoir, “This is What America Looks Like,” Omar has been married three times.
- When Hayes asked whether there was any possibility that her former husband was related to her, Omar replied: 'Not to my knowledge.' The president pounced on her response during a rally in Iowa on October 22, mocking Omar for saying she didn't know whether her former husband was related to her.
- Obama made the comment Sunday, six days after Homeland Security Investigations agents raided the Somalian-born, Minnesota congresswoman's Washington, D.C., residence.
- If Ilhan had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately.
- For ten years, Ilhan 'Omar' and her allies have called those who questioned her marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi racists and bigots. 'Omar' has targeted my friend Scott Johnson in particular with those allegations after he and his partners dug up considerable evidence that Ahmed is her brother and that her real name is actually Ilham Nur Said Elmi. 'Omar' allegedly changed her name at some point to cover up her immigration fraud and has used a false identity ever since, according to Scott and others.
- A first-time candidate, she had just defeated a 44-year incumbent in the Democratic primary to represent a Minneapolis district when Somali community message boards and conservative outlets claimed that she had once married a sibling.