More than 170 House Democrats have demanded that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security stop the ongoing criminal investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar after federal agents executed a judicially authorized search of her Washington, D.C., home earlier this month.
The letter, dated October 26 and led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Jamie Raskin, Bennie Thompson, Robert Garcia, Yvette Clarke, and Greg Casar, describes the pre-dawn search as an unprecedented “weaponization of law enforcement.”
“This weaponization of law enforcement to harass a sitting Member of Congress 22 days before an election is unprecedented and unacceptable,” wrote the Members. “We stand with Congresswoman Omar and condemn the weaponization of law enforcement against her. You have already disgraced the offices you hold, and we demand you to refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election.”
“Your actions are clearly driven by a pre-determined political outcome rather than an objective pursuit of justice,” the letter continued. “Political attacks should play no role in federal law enforcement, but they have here.”
The letter was sent to Attorney General Todd Blanche and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and asserts that the probe centers on immigration paperwork filed by Omar’s late father when she was supposedly a minor, after the family fled Somalia’s civil war.
