Ilhan Omar Details Federal Raid on Her Minnesota Home

US Representative Ilhan Omar denied immigration fraud allegations during an interview with MS Now on Wednesday, her first since federal agents searched her Minnesota residence on October 12. The Democratic congresswoman said the operation involved 10 to 15 Homeland Security Investigations agents and resulted in the seizure of 17 items, including several phones.

Omar described the early-morning search as an attempt to intimidate her amid years of political hostility from President Donald Trump and his allies. She said the agents arrived at 6 a.m. and spent nearly five hours searching her home room by room under a warrant.

During the interview with host Chris Hayes, Omar argued that the operation was intended to demonstrate action against her to supporters of the president.

"They kept alluding to the fact that something was going to happen to me," Omar told Hayes. "They had to do something, I believe, to say, 'Hey, look we raided her house.”

Omar also addressed rumors alleging that she had entered a sham marriage with her brother and falsified information in her immigration paperwork. She told Hayes that the allegations initially circulated on a Somali blog before gaining traction among right-wing conspiracy theorists in Minneapolis.

She disputed the accusations and linked the raid to the broader political campaign against her, saying she believed the operation was intended to satisfy Trump loyalists.

Omar provided further details about the search, including the number of agents involved, the timing of their arrival and the items they removed. She said the circumstances suggested that the operation was designed to unsettle her.

"You don’t show up to somebody’s house that early in the morning unless you’re trying to freak them out," Omar said.

The search marked a new escalation in the long-running conflict between Omar and Trump. The president has repeatedly attacked the congresswoman's character, religion and Somali heritage, continuing his criticism in remarks at the White House on Tuesday.

Trump made the comments while responding to a question about whether Omar could face deportation over alleged inaccuracies in her immigration paperwork. He described her as a "sick, very dishonest person who hates our country" and suggested she could face legal consequences.

"Well, she could be. She could also go to jail," Trump said.

Omar said she believed her political opponents wanted her imprisoned or deported, but argued that forcing her out of Congress would be an even greater victory for them.

"Obviously, they’d like to see me locked up, deported and all of those things. But I think the bigger satisfaction for them would be for me to be like, 'I’m tired of all of you and I’m going to leave,'" she said. "I have a legal right to be a member of Congress."