Judge limited the Justice Department's access to Omar's records before approving the search, CNN reports

Before federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home on Monday, a judge made the government narrow what it could take, and that fight over the warrant had not been reported until Wednesday.

CNN reported that prosecutors had a prolonged back and forth with Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh of the DC District Court, who ultimately limited how the Justice Department could access Omar's documents before he would approve the warrant, because of her role as a member of Congress and the constitutional protections that role carries, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation. Members of Congress hold a constitutional protection for legislative acts, and searches of their offices and homes have historically triggered special handling procedures for material that might fall under it.

The inquiries behind the search, per CNN's sources, include whether Omar or her late father made false statements on government documents, whether she misrepresented her age when she obtained citizenship in 2000 by claiming to be a minor, and whether false statements continued on recent documents such as a passport. One source told CNN the government could try to build the case into a wider conspiracy investigation into deliberate falsification over years by a larger group. Omar emigrated from Somalia as a refugee at about age 12 and became a citizen in 2000, according to people familiar with her situation.

The limits the judge imposed do not decide what the evidence shows, and the warrant materials remain sealed. What they establish is that the search of a sitting member's home, less than a month before voting ends in an election in which she is running for reelection, was contested inside the courthouse before it was carried out, and that a judge trimmed the government's reach as the price of approval. Omar has called the search political intimidation and denies wrongdoing. No charges have been announced as of October 14.