Obama DOJ Opened Probe Into Ilhan Omar’s Marriage in 2016, Biden Admin Later Shut It Down
The ongoing investigation into Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s controversial marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi reportedly began a decade ago in 2016, when President Barack Obama was in office.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Obama administration FBI and Department of Homeland Security “investigated the marriage in summer 2016.”
Citing current and former federal government officials, the outlet also revealed that the Obama administration “found some evidence” that the marriage “was fraudulent.”
Omar has long denied the allegations against her.
Another source familiar with the probe also confirmed the details of this Obama-era investigation to the New York Post.
The outlet’s source added that a U.S. attorney in the Biden administration later “shut it down” after assuming office in 2021.
According to The New York Times, the unnamed U.S. attorney concluded that the alleged felony committed by Omar fell outside a five-year statute of limitations.
Omar’s marriage to Elmi has raised concerns on the grounds that he may be her biological brother, and that he may be a homosexual.
The New York Post reported that Elmi “came to live with Omar and her first husband, Ahmed Hirsi, in Minnesota in 2009.”
A friend of Hirsi later described Elmi as an “extremely feminine Somali guy” who was “walking around in tight female clothing, which is heavily frowned upon in the Somali community.”
“Ahmed used very strong words and said it was ‘disgusting,’” the friend added.
“All of the Somalis in Minneapolis were gossiping and trying to find out who this guy was,” the friend continued. “Then everyone realized it was… Ilhan’s brother.”
Hirsi also allegedly admitted to the friend that Omar had married Elmi so that Elmi could obtain paperwork granting him entry into the United States.
“Everybody was shocked,” the friend said. “[Hirsi] explained that she had married him legally to get him papers and that [Hirsi] was only Islamically married to her.”
Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, suspect that Omar married Elmi for the purpose of committing immigration fraud.
Speaking with Fox News earlier this week, former immigration judge Nathan Hansen disputed the idea that a statute of limitations would prevent the prosecution of Omar for fraud.
“My view of that is generally that fraud stops any statute of limitations,” he told the network.
“In other words, if something isn’t disclosed or something’s hidden, then it would be unfair to the other party to toll a statute of limitations against them,” he continued. “That’s just sort of a general principle of law.”
