Rep. Ilhan Omar challenges legality of Trump administration search of her home

Joshua Lott/Getty Images/File

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is fighting back against the Trump administration’s search of her home earlier this week – disputing its legality and demanding the return of her property seized by federal agents.

Omar’s attorneys sent a letter Friday, obtained by CNN, to prosecutors at the Justice Department, saying, “This vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated criminal investigation into one of the President’s chief congressional critics violates Representative Omar’s constitutional rights and threatens the separation of powers.”

The administration pushed for an unusually aggressive search of Omar’s Washington, DC-area house in an immigration fraud probe that targets the congresswoman, possible false statements made on government documents, and a potential conspiracy, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation. Federal officers executed a search warrant early Monday after a federal magistrate judge signed off on the warrant, while limiting how the Justice Department could access her documents. Omar has been the persistent target of ire from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Omar sought to dismantle the basis of the probe, saying she became a lawfully naturalized citizen in 2000 after fleeing Somalia in 1995.

“There is no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status,” Omar’s attorneys, Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, wrote in the letter to federal prosecutors. They also demanded that all video and audio recordings made by federal agents during the search be preserved.

Spokespeople for the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from CNN about the accusations Omar’s lawyers made.

Omar’s attorneys pointed out a number of issues with how the search of Omar’s home was conducted. They said the House of Representatives’ Office of General Counsel was not notified about the search until after it was publicly reported. The judge in Washington had mandated special procedures about giving notice to the House and to Omar and her attorneys about her Constitutional protections as a member of Congress, the letter said. Omar’s defense attorneys indicated the investigators may have infringed on the congresswoman’s rights by not following the judge’s parameters.

There also was no one from the US attorney’s office or the Justice Department at the search to read Omar her privileges under the Speech or Debate Clause, according to the letter, and instead Omar was presented with a waiver that she did not sign. Omar’s attorneys also alleged they did not have the opportunity to identify or segregate materials that were protected under the clause.

The search “arose from a years-old, tired conspiracy theory,” Omar’s attorneys wrote, also pointing out the search was conducted less than three weeks before Election Day.

“Historically, the Department has refrained from this type of investigative activity so close to an election, so as to avoid even the appearance of politically motivated law enforcement actions. But the political motivations behind this pre-election investigation and search are clear as day. For the reasons given above, this search was neither justified nor lawful,” they wrote in the letter, first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Jeffress and Matz noted that Omar was repeatedly referred to by her first name in the search warrant paperwork and called on the agents to respect the congresswoman with her proper title going forward.

Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

Joshua Lott/Getty Images/文件

民主党众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔正在反击特朗普政府本周早些时候对其住所的搜查——质疑其合法性，并要求归还被联邦特工扣押的财产。

奥马尔的律师周五向司法部检察官发出了一封信（CNN获得了这封信），信中说：“这项针对总统在国会的主要批评者之一的报复性、惩罚性和政治动机的刑事调查侵犯了奥马尔议员的宪法权利，并威胁到权力分立。”

据多位知情人士透露，特朗普政府推动对奥马尔位于华盛顿特区的住所进行异常激进的搜查，这是针对这位女议员的移民欺诈调查的一部分，调查内容包括她可能在政府文件中作虚假陈述以及潜在的共谋。周一清晨，联邦官员在一名联邦治安法官签署搜查令后执行了搜查，同时限制了司法部获取奥马尔文件的权限。奥马尔一直是特朗普政府持续攻击的目标。

奥马尔试图推翻调查的基础，称她在 1995 年逃离索马里后，于 2000 年合法入籍成为美国公民。

奥马尔的律师艾米·杰弗里斯和约书亚·马茨在致联邦检察官的信中写道：“没有任何正当理由暗示她违反了任何有关其公民身份的法律。”他们还要求保存联邦特工在搜查过程中拍摄的所有视频和音频录像。

司法部发言人没有立即回应 CNN 就奥马尔律师提出的指控提出的询问。

奥马尔的律师指出，对奥马尔住所的搜查存在诸多问题。他们表示，众议院总法律顾问办公室直到搜查事件被公开报道后才收到通知。信中还提到，华盛顿的法官曾要求采取特殊程序，向众议院、奥马尔及其律师告知她作为国会议员所享有的宪法权利。奥马尔的辩护律师指出，调查人员可能因未遵守法官的规定而侵犯了这位女议员的权利。

信中还提到，搜查过程中，美国检察官办公室或司法部无人到场向奥马尔宣读言论或辩论条款赋予她的权利，而是向她出示了一份弃权声明，但她并未签署。奥马尔的律师还声称，他们没有机会识别或隔离受该条款保护的材料。

奥马尔的律师写道，这次搜查“源于一个由来已久的陈旧阴谋论”，并指出搜查是在选举日不到三周前进行的。

“历史上，司法部一直避免在临近选举时开展此类调查活动，以免给人留下出于政治动机的执法行动的印象。但此次选前调查和搜查背后的政治动机昭然若揭。鉴于上述原因，此次搜查既不合理也不合法，”他们在信中写道，这封信最初由《华尔街日报》报道。

杰弗里斯和马茨指出，搜查令文件中多次提及奥马尔的名字，并呼吁特工们今后尊重这位女议员，使用她正确的头衔。

Katelyn Polantz 对本报道亦有贡献。