Feds CLOSING IN On Omar — What Her OWN Staff Asked For

Top secret file folder with flashlight and magnifying glass — Photo: Andre Boukreev / Shutterstock

A top House Republican says the Justice Department is close to finishing its review of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s birth date, the detail that decides whether she could become a citizen through her father.

Story Highlights

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota says the Justice Department is “finalizing” its review of Omar’s birth date.
The key question is her age in 2000, when her father became a U.S. citizen. A child under 18 can become a citizen through a parent. An adult must apply on her own.
A report published the same day says investigators questioned Omar’s former bodyguard about her marriages and a $10,000 payment to his brother.
In 2019, after she was in Congress, Omar’s staff asked a state records library to change her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982.
Omar has not been charged with any crime. Her lawyers say there is “no legitimate basis” for any claim that she broke citizenship law.

What Emmer Said About The Review

Rep. Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican and the House Republican whip, said in a television interview on Wednesday, November 11, that the Justice Department is “finalizing” its review of Omar’s birth date. He said the birth date is one of “four different things” federal investigators are looking at. He did not name the other three.

The birth date matters because of how Omar says she became a citizen. Her office has said she was born on October 4, 1982, and became a citizen through her father when he was naturalized, or made a citizen, in 2000. That would have made her 17 at the time. Under the law, a child under 18 can become a citizen automatically through a parent who naturalizes. If she was born in 1981, as some older records listed, she would have been 18 or 19 that year.

Omar has denied wrongdoing. In a letter reported on Wednesday, November 11, her lawyers wrote that there is “no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status.” They called the probe “vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated.” In October, Omar called the allegations “baseless lies and smear campaigns.”

Emmer predicted the outcome. “I think what’s going to happen is they’re going to confirm that her birth date was over the age of 18 when she claimed to be a minor to be naturalized,” he said. He called the birth date “an administrative procedure” and said that if she was over 18, “she’s no longer a citizen of the United States.” That is Emmer’s view. No court has ruled, and no case to revoke her citizenship has been filed. Taking away citizenship normally has to go through a court.

The Former Bodyguard

A report published on Wednesday, November 11, described how prosecutors pursued Abdullahi Mohamed, who briefly worked as Omar’s bodyguard during an overseas trip. He was accused of lying under oath at a 2025 green card interview, when he said “no” to a question about dealings with U.S. officials or politicians. His lawyer, Bruce Rivers, said Mohamed did not understand the question because of his limited English.

According to the report, prosecutors questioned Mohamed in March about Omar’s journey from Somalia, her 2009 marriage and a $10,000 payment involving Omar and Mohamed’s brother. Prosecutors called the payment a possible bribe. The brother said it settled a loan. “They asked him if he knew who she was married to and that kind of stuff,” Rivers said. “He didn’t know any information about that stuff.”

Prosecutors offered to help in his deportation case if he gave them information about Omar, the report says. Mohamed said he had none. A grand jury indicted him, but in September prosecutors moved to drop the charge, saying “there is no longer a federal interest in continuing prosecution in light of his anticipated removal from the United States.” He lives in Kenya. The Justice Department said the case was “completely unrelated to any current investigations.” Omar spokeswoman Jackie Rogers called the offer to Mohamed “outrageous” and “a blatant weaponization of the full federal government to intimidate political opponents.”

The Paper Trail: 1981 Versus 1982

Omar’s official U.S. House biography lists her birth date as October 4, 1982. For years, the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, which keeps records on state lawmakers, listed 1981. On May 17, 2019, Omar’s congressional staff told the library her birth year was wrong and asked it to change the year to 1982, the library’s director has said. The library has said the information was self-reported and that it does not have supporting documents.

People familiar with the probe say agents are focused on whether Omar or her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, misstated her birth date on immigration paperwork so she could become a citizen through him as a minor. Omar has said the changes to her birth year corrected mistakes.

What Comes Next

In October, agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the main investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, searched Omar’s Washington home and seized 17 items, including notebooks and personal phones. Her lawyers have demanded the items back and argue the search broke Justice Department guidelines on actions close to an election. Omar won reelection in the November midterm election with more than 76 percent of the vote.

The Justice Department has not announced a decision. If the government does try to revoke her citizenship, the Supreme Court has set a high bar. The government must prove its case by “clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence,” and a false statement must have mattered to the decision to grant citizenship.