Obama calls Trump administration’s investigation into Ilhan Omar ‘appalling’

Former President Barack Obama on Sunday called the Justice Department’s investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar “appalling,” saying the government is attempting to intimidate and deport one of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics.

“The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president,” Obama wrote on social media .

The former president said the recent search of the Minnesota Democrat’s Washington, DC, home was to “uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.” CNN previously reported that the search was related to an immigration fraud probe investigating whether Omar’s father lied about her age when she obtained her US citizenship in 2000.

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

“The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views,” Obama said in his post. “Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.”

While the government has not yet indicated it will attempt to strip Omar of her citizenship, Trump said in a post to Truth Social earlier this year that he’d like to see her sent to Somalia. Omar has not been charged with a crime, and the Justice Department has not revealed any evidence against her. Omar has disputed the legality of last week’s search and demanded the return of her property seized by federal agents.

Trump told reporters last week that the search “has nothing to do with me.”

“I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ. I have nothing to do with it,” he said.

Along with Obama, other prominent Democrats have defended Omar. House Democratic leaders called the search “deeply disturbing” and said it “raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.”

Omar, who is running for reelection, called the search “the latest escalation” in Trump’s “campaign of political intimidation.” “I will not be silenced,” she said last week in a statement on X.

The search of her home was highly unusual for its timing. Generally, the Justice Department avoids overt investigative activity that could affect an election within 60 days of Election Day, and the search occurred less than a month before voting ends.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

前总统巴拉克·奥巴马周日称司法部对众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔的调查“令人震惊”，并表示政府试图恐吓和驱逐唐纳德·特朗普总统最直言不讳的批评者之一。

奥巴马在社交媒体上写道：“联邦政府的全部力量正压在一位守法的民选官员身上，仅仅因为她胆敢批评总统。”

这位前总统表示，最近对这位明尼苏达州民主党人位于华盛顿特区的住所进行搜查，是为了“找到20年前根本不存在的‘铁证’，以此来支持他们的指控”。此前，CNN报道称，此次搜查与一项移民欺诈调查有关，该调查旨在查明奥马尔的父亲是否在2000年奥马尔获得美国公民身份时谎报了她的年龄。

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

奥巴马在帖子中写道：“任何总统或任何政府愿意采取如此明目张胆的恐吓手段，都应该激起所有美国人的愤怒，无论他们对奥马尔议员的政治观点有何看法。因为如果这成为新常态，我们没有理由相信这种做法会止步于她——也没有理由相信未来的总统，无论属于哪个党派，不会效仿。”

虽然美国政府尚未表示将剥夺奥马尔的公民身份，但特朗普今年早些时候在Truth Social网站上发帖称，他希望看到奥马尔被遣返回索马里。奥马尔尚未被指控任何罪行，司法部也未公布任何针对她的证据。奥马尔对上周的搜查行动的合法性提出质疑，并要求归还被联邦特工扣押的财产。

特朗普上周告诉记者，这次搜查“与我无关”。

“我认为她是个很糟糕的人，但这真的要由司法部来决定。这与我无关，”他说。

除了奥巴马之外，其他一些知名的民主党人也为奥马尔辩护。众议院民主党领导人称此次搜查“令人深感不安”，并表示这“引发了人们对联邦政府持续腐败地利用其权力打击唐纳德·特朗普的对手的严重质疑”。

正在竞选连任的奥马尔称，这次搜查是特朗普“政治恐吓行动”的“最新升级”。她上周在X网站上发表声明说：“我不会保持沉默。”

搜查她住所的时机非常不寻常。通常情况下，司法部会在选举日60天内避免开展可能影响选举的公开调查活动，而这次搜查发生在投票结束前不到一个月。

CNN的凯特琳·波兰茨对本报道亦有贡献。