On Oct. 16 lawyers for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar sent a letter to federal prosecutors challenging the legality and constitutionality of the multiple investigations and the search of her home. Her lawyers also demanded the return of all seized property, including Omar’s cellphone, notebooks, computers and passport. Over one dozen subpoenas have been issued against Omar and members of her family. The letter has not been made public but a copy was made available to the Wall Street Journal.

The letter also charges that the search of Omar’s home did not follow the judge’s instructions in the warrant. Neither Omar nor her lawyer were provided with a copy of the warrant, nor was the U.S. House’s general counsel notified ahead of the search, which were all conditions specified in the warrant and required by the judge’s instructions. The letter also charges that during the search of her home Omar made several attempts to contact her lawyer, but was prevented from doing so by federal agents for over an hour.

The Justice Dept. is attempting to build a legal case to strip Omar of her citizenship in order to deport her, according to federal officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. The raid on Omar’s home was based on information from the seizure of the cellphone of Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, a health care executive and author, according to the New York Times.

There are multiple federal investigations by the U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro in Washington, DC into Omar’s personal finances, her reporting of these finances, and a Grand Jury investigation in Minnesota. The raid on her home is part of an investigation into whether Omar or her father falsified her age on her citizenship application in order to obtain citizenship as a minor when her father was naturalized in 2000. During the Biden administration officials at Homeland Security Investigations were “given a tip” and had already investigated the same charges against Omar’s citizenship application, but could not find any evidence of fraud.

Omar won her 2024 reelection to Congress by a landslide and is expected to easily win her fifth term this year. Her office is currently being flooded with campaign contributions and money to cover her legal expenses. On Oct. 12 Congresswoman Omar posted on X, “Make no mistake: this is 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.”