Obama admin first investigated Ilhan Omar over alleged brother marriage—now he wants to condemn Trump admin probe

The first investigation into claims that Omar married her brother to get him a green card actually started under the Obama administration in 2016. However, that probe was later shut down by former President Joe Biden. Now the issue has been thrust back into the public sphere as the Trump DOJ is conducting its own investigation into Omar.

Last week, Obama posted publicly about the Trump administration's efforts to investigate Omar, saying that the move is “appalling.”

“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say. But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. To understand why this is so appalling, it’s important to know the facts. Congresswoman Omar came to this country with her father when she was 12 years old. Five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen,” Obama said in the post.

“Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case,” he later added.

He said this was not the “first time” that the government is “being brought down on a law-abiding elected official.” He said it has repeatedly happened under Trump’s first term. But he failed to mention that his administration was the first to have the government “brought down” on Omar.

Allegations that Omar married her brother in order to get him a green card have circulated for years. The search warrant for the October raid on her Washington, DC home stated her legal name is “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi,” which has the same surname as her ex-husband (rumored to be her brother) from her 2009 marriage, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. They legally split in 2017.

Along with the allegations of her marrying her brother, Omar’s immigration status has been brought under scrutiny. Some have alleged that Omar was 18 instead of 17 when she was naturalized alongside her father. Minors can obtain automatic citizenship if their parents become US citizens, but if she was 18, that would not be the case.