What the letter demanded

Attorneys for Ilhan Omar sent a letter to the US Department of Justice asking it to return property that federal agents removed days earlier from her home, arguing the seizure was 'neither justified nor lawful'. The letter came to light on Friday (17 October 2026). The Minnesota Democrat's legal team also told the department to preserve any audio and video taken during the search on Monday.

• •The seized property should be handed back, the attorneys wrote.
• •All recordings made during Monday's search must be preserved.
• •They wrote there was 'no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status'.
• •They argued the criminal investigation 'violates Representative Omar's constitutional rights and threatens the separation of powers'.

The department's response

Justice department spokesperson Emily Covington rejected the letter's claims, saying it was 'riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies'. She said attorneys and law enforcement 'complied with all court orders and legal obligations, as they always do'.

Scope of the investigation

The federal government has issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including of Omar's relatives, and seized her phone. Fox News, citing sources close to the investigation, reported the Monday search related to a criminal fraud investigation into Omar's immigration paperwork, which her father filled out when she was a child.

Why the lawyers say the timing is improper

The letter accused the justice department of violating its longstanding policy aimed at avoiding potentially influencing an election, and questioned whether investigators followed the magistrate judge's instructions. According to the letter, the probe began weeks before the 3 November midterms, in which Omar is on the ballot, and Democrats accused Donald Trump, a Republican, of abusing his power as president to target a political opponent.