Attorney General Todd Blanche refuted Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) accusations that a federal raid on her Washington, DC, home linked to an immigration fraud investigation is an attempt by the Trump administration to silence her.
“One of the things she’s said is that we’re not going to keep her quiet,” Blanche told the New York Posts‘s Miranda Devine. “We’re not trying to keep her quiet. There’s no effort by the Department of Justice [to keep her quiet] … It’s an ongoing investigation.”
At a press conference on Thursday, as well as in the interview with Devine, Blanche said Omar is openly speaking about the case even as federal officials will not comment on the ongoing investigation.
“[I]t’s an ongoing investigation. She’s commented on it … but beyond the fact that there was law enforcement activity Monday morning at her house, we don’t comment on any ongoing investigations except to say that she’s commented on it,” Blanche told Devine.
At the press conference, Blanche said the Department of Justice (DOJ) does not talk about searches because they “are covert, they’re not overt.”
“That is a covert operation, the search warrant,” Blanche said of the raid on Omar’s residence. “… [T]he congresswoman has made multiple public comments about it. I haven’t. It’s a law enforcement action, that’s all I’ve said.”
Reports indicate that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had been looking into Omar and her immigration history for months before the raid last week.
In January, for example, ICE agents reportedly met with Scott Johnson of Powerline Blog. Powerline Blog was one of the first online news sources to publish allegations of immigration fraud by Omar, including the claim that she married her brother to help him more quickly secure naturalized American citizenship.
Along with the immigration probe into Omar, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said her office has opened a financial investigation into the Somalia-born congresswoman. The Biden administration investigated Omar’s finances after it was reported she had a multimillion-dollar net worth.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.
