“I Will Not Be Silenced” — Rep. Ilhan Omar Reacts As Federal Agents Search Washington Home In Criminal Probe

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has vowed that she will not be silenced after federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., residence on Monday as part of a criminal investigation.

In a statement on X on Monday, Omar called the search an “attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

“For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she said. “I will not be silenced.”

The search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s home comes in the final weeks of her reelection bid, just weeks to next month’s midterm contests that will determine control of the House and the Senate. The development was swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the timing given longstanding Justice Department protocol to avoid overt investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an election.

Omar, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, said she was being targeted as one of the Republican’s “political enemies.”

The scope of the investigation was unclear, though Trump and officials in his administration have repeatedly referred in recent months to the existence of an inquiry into Omar, a Somali-born Democrat whose status as an immigrant to the U.S. and left-wing views have drawn scrutiny from the White House and other Republicans.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin last month cited an “ongoing investigation” that he suggested was examining potential fraud in her family’s immigration paperwork. “Something’s going to happen,” he said in a potential foreshadowing of the search.

Source: Associated Press