NEW YORK - A New York Times report has revealed that federal agents looked into Rep. Ilhan Omar's marriage in 2009 (during the Obama administration) as part of the federal investigation. The report indicates that the level of federal scrutiny was present well before the current administration has started to look at the matter again.
As per the Times, FBI and DHS agents looked at the congresswoman's marriage to British citizen Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2016. There were suspicions that the marriage was a sham, set up to enable Elmi (allegedly her brother) to obtain a green card.
While the prosecutors reportedly found some evidence of fraud during the 2016 inquiry, the case was ultimately dropped as the five-year statute of limitations had expired.
The allegations (which first emerged years ago on Somali community message boards) have been a constant source of controversy. Omar has consistently and repeatedly denied the claims that she married her brother or committed immigration fraud, labeling the allegations as the product of a concerted right-wing conspiracy.
The Obama administration investigation is now in the past. The Trump administration has taken up the inquiry again as part of a broader review of the Omar family's immigration history from Somalia. The push to reopen the case intensified in October 2026 when agents executed a search warrant at the congresswoman's Washington, D.C., home.
The resurrection of the investigation has provoked a huge political backlash, with former President Barack Obama going so far as to describe the current investigation as 'appalling'.