Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Wednesday night that she believes the Homeland Security Investigations raid on her Washington, D.C. home was intended to frighten people away from voting in the midterm elections, not to pursue a genuine fraud case.
Omar made her first public comments on the raid in an interview with Chris Hayes on “All In” on MS NOW. Her home was searched last Monday as part of an investigation into whether she or her father lied on paperwork tied to her citizenship. Border czar Tom Homan has said Omar could be denaturalized if the allegations hold up.
Omar argued the raid, along with other recent federal actions, was a political move rather than a serious legal effort.
“I think they were like starting to lose faith that these were empty promises, and they had to do something, I believe, to say, ‘Hey, look, we raided her house. You know, now you can feel comfortable that we are doing something,'” Omar said.
She tied the raid to a broader pattern she said was meant to project action to supporters.
“I think … whether it’s Metro Surge, whether it is the voter rolls that they’re looking at, whether it’s the door knocks that you just spoke of, that is all to show these people that they’re doing something and to save face.”
Omar said the underlying claim driving these efforts — that large numbers of undocumented people are voting in American elections — was false, and that the administration was responding to pressure from supporters who believed that claim.
“And so they, you know, they’re going to try to gin up this sort of frenzy,” she said. “And, I think ultimately their goal is to intimidate and scare people from wanting to participate and vote.”
Despite that assessment, Omar said the raid appeared to be backfiring, pointing to a surge in early voting turnout she attributed to public reaction against the search.
“As I was driving up here today, we were getting calls that people, you know, are just like, there’s a massive line at early voting sites. And a lot of our staff that are, you know, helping people drive to go vote are saying, you know, ‘We don’t have the capacity to keep up with the requests that we’re getting of people who need assistance to get to the early voting site.’ I think it’s doing the opposite,” Omar said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Omar had largely stayed out of public view since the raid was first reported by Fox News Digital last week, appearing only briefly in a campaign video Tuesday night before Wednesday’s interview. Her husband, Tim Mynett, had been seen outside the residence walking their dog, and a campaign aide was observed bringing food to the home while both of the couple’s daughters arrived separately.
President Trump, speaking from the Oval Office Tuesday, said Omar could face jail time if the fraud allegations are proven.
“Well, she could be. She could also go to jail,” Trump said. “You know, they keep talking about deportation. No, she could go to jail.”
He added, “This is just my opinion,” before describing Omar as “a very dishonest person” who “hates our country.”
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