Washington, Oct 13 (IANS) US President Donald Trump denied any involvement in the federal investigation involving Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, hours after federal agents searched her Washington home, triggering accusations from senior Democrats that his administration was using law enforcement to intimidate political opponents ahead of the midterm elections.
Trump, speaking to reporters before departing the White House for Ohio, said the matter was being handled by the Justice Department, even as he launched a personal attack on the Somali-born lawmaker.
“Well, I understand they’re looking at it very carefully. I’ve always found them to be totally crooked personally, but that has nothing to do with me,” Trump said when asked about the investigation.
“I think she’s a terrible person, just a complainer. She comes from a country that is a non-country, and then she comes over here and she complains about our Constitution,” he added.
Trump insisted that he had no role in the investigation.
“I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ; I have nothing to do with it,” he said.
His remarks followed a search of Omar’s Washington residence by agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Justice Department confirmed that agents executed a judicially authorised search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.
The department did not publicly disclose the precise nature of the investigation or identify any criminal charges against Omar.
CBS News reported that the inquiry concerned immigration documents dating to Omar’s childhood, including paperwork completed by her late father when the family came to the United States.
Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and one of Trump’s most outspoken congressional critics, rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing.
Her office described the search as an abuse of federal law enforcement powers and maintained that she had done nothing wrong.
The congresswoman also accused the administration of seeking to intimidate her through politically motivated investigations.
The search drew a sharp response from Representative Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, who questioned both its timing and justification.
“Federal agents appear to have searched a sitting congresswoman’s home not to investigate any real crime or threat, but to carry out a campaign of political retribution against one of President Trump’s most outspoken critics,” Raskin said in a statement.
He accused the Justice Department of violating its policy governing politically sensitive investigative actions close to elections.
“Just 22 days before the elections, this is blatant political intimidation and an attempt to interfere with the Congresswoman’s reelection,” Raskin said.
The allegation of political interference has not been independently established. The existence of a judicially authorised warrant does not, by itself, establish whether the investigation was politically motivated.
Raskin said House Judiciary Committee Democrats would seek accountability over the decision to conduct the search.
“House Judiciary Committee Democrats stand with Rep. Omar against this outrageous abuse of power, and we will be demanding transparency and accountability as to who authorized this abusive search and who carried it out,” he said.
The confrontation comes weeks before the November 3 congressional elections, when Republicans and Democrats will compete for control of the House of Representatives and Senate.
Omar, who represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, was first elected to Congress in 2018. Born in Somalia, she arrived in the United States as a refugee and later became an American citizen.
She is among the first Muslim women elected to the US Congress and has frequently clashed with Trump over immigration, foreign policy and his administration’s treatment of minority communities.
–IANS
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