The Omar investigation widens: Homan calls it a strong case, Mullin says multiple warrants were served, and her lawyers demand the seized property back

A week after the search of her home, the investigation of Representative Ilhan Omar is being argued in public by both sides, and the two accounts do not meet. Federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations searched Omar Washington home on October 12 under a warrant signed by a judge, and seized items including her cellphone and her passport. The inquiry centers on immigration fraud and on citizenship paperwork her late father prepared in 1995. No member of the family has been charged, and several relatives have received grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department. The Associated Press has reported more than a dozen subpoenas in the case.

The administration is now describing the case in the open. Tom Homan, the White House border czar, told Fox News on Saturday that he did not want to get ahead of Homeland Security Investigations but had been told they have a strong case. We will let the evidence lead where it leads, but she will be held to the same standard you and I are held, Homan said. If she violated the law, then she will be held accountable. He said denaturalization or deportation could be possible if wrongdoing is established. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in a podcast interview reported by CBS News, said the October 12 operation was not a single search: agents executed multiple warrants that day, a judge signed off on them, and investigators expect to present the evidence to a grand jury. He added that organized immigration fraud could be charged under the federal racketeering law known as RICO.

Omar side has moved from statements to a legal filing. Her attorneys have demanded that the Justice Department return the seized property at once, preserve the audio and video of the search, and answer whether investigators complied with the limits imposed by the magistrate judge who signed the warrant. Omar, who was born in Somalia and became a citizen in 2000, has called the search an outrageous abuse of power and an attempt to intimidate political enemies, and has said she will not be silenced. Former President Barack Obama has defended her, saying the president targeted her because she has been one of the administration fiercest critics.

The Justice Department answer to the lawyers letter was blunt. A department spokesperson said it was riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies, and that its lawyers and investigators complied with every court order and legal obligation governing the operation. What exists on the record tonight is a judge signed warrant, a set of subpoenas, two senior officials calling the case strong, and a member of Congress who says the whole thing is retaliation. The grand jury Mullin described is where those claims stop being statements and start being evidence, as of October 19.