What the DOJ filing naming Ilhan Omar says, and doesn't say, as Trump demands she resign

What is happening with Ilhan Omar?

Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is the subject of a federal investigation, AP reported, but she has not been charged with any crime, according to The Associated Press, CBS News and Al Jazeera. She has denied wrongdoing, according to AP and CBS News. In an interview with MS NOW, Omar said she is "confident in the fact that I didn't do anything wrong," according to The Associated Press.

The latest dispute centers on a three-page Justice Department motion filed Wednesday, Oct. 21, in federal court in Washington, according to the court record. The motion refers to Omar by a second name, according to the filing. President Donald Trump then demanded that she resign, according to The Hill. Omar responded that her name "has always been Ilhan Omar," according to The Hill, Al Jazeera and CBS Minnesota.

What does the DOJ filing say?

NewsCubby read the motion, which is posted on CourtListener, a public court-records site. It was filed by the office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, according to the signature block.

According to the document, it is a request for more time. Three groups have asked the court to unseal records about the federal search warrant for Omar's Washington home: 14 press organizations, The New York Times Company and Judicial Watch, the filing says.

The motion asks the court to set one deadline for all three requests, and to set it only after the search warrant "has been fully executed," according to the filing. Prosecutors also proposed filing a status report within 30 days after that point, the filing says. As a fallback, the motion asked for a Nov. 9 deadline, which the filing notes was already the date set for Judicial Watch's request.

The motion says the reasons for the delay are in a memorandum that prosecutors asked to file under seal and ex parte, meaning only the judge would see it. The filing also says the applicants oppose the request.

According to NewsCubby's reading of the filing, the second name appears once: the motion says the warrant concerns the residence of "Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar."

What doesn't the filing say?

A NewsCubby review of the three-page motion found that it:

- does not explain why prosecutors used the name "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi" or how the two names relate. Al Jazeera and The Hill reported the same. - does not accuse Omar of fraud or any other crime, and does not charge her. Al Jazeera wrote that the document "does not establish that Omar committed fraud." - does not mention her marriage or any family member. - does not describe the evidence in the investigation.

A source familiar with the matter told CBS Minnesota that Omar's legal team does not know why the Justice Department used a second name. The source stressed that it is not her name, according to CBS Minnesota.

What has Omar said?

Omar has rejected the claims, according to The Hill and Al Jazeera. "Whenever the news turns bad, this creep reaches for one name: mine. So let's make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar," she wrote on X, according to The Hill and Al Jazeera.

"The Congresswoman's name has always been Ilhan Omar. Any indication otherwise is flat out false," a spokesperson told Al Jazeera. Her office told Fox News Digital, "This is completely false. Ilhan Omar is her real name," Newsweek reported.

According to CBS Minnesota, Omar told reporters after voting early in Minneapolis on Friday that her name is Ilhan Abdullahi Omar. She also said federal authorities "haven't told us anything" about the investigation, CBS Minnesota reported.

Omar has called the investigation "an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement," according to AP.

What did Trump say?

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Oct. 22, Trump wrote that Omar should "IMMEDIATELY resign," The Hill reported. In the same post, Trump claimed that "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, her real name, has openly admitted to FRAUD," according to The Hill. Al Jazeera reported that the filing "makes no such finding." Newsweek reported that Trump's claim that Omar used a fraudulent name to take her oath "has not been established."

At a rally in Iowa, Trump said, "If you get sworn in with a false name, I would imagine that's pretty tough to remain," The Hill reported.

What is the marriage claim, and what does Omar say?

Trump's post also repeated an alleged, unproven claim that Omar once married her brother, according to The Hill. CBS Minnesota reported that the claim first drew intense scrutiny about a decade ago, when Omar was running for the Minnesota Legislature. According to The Hill and CBS Minnesota, the surname in the filing matches her former husband's surname.

Omar has repeatedly denied the claim, according to Al Jazeera, The Hill and Newsweek. In her MS NOW interview, she called it "insane," The Hill reported. No court filing or official finding reviewed by NewsCubby supports the claim.

What is the investigation about?

Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar's Washington home on Oct. 12 under a "judicially authorized search warrant," according to a Justice Department statement reported by AP. The details of the warrant are sealed, CBS Minnesota reported.

According to a person briefed on the probe who spoke to AP, federal authorities seized Omar's phone and issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, some to relatives. The person told AP that the grand jury is in Minnesota and that the probe concerns potential fraud in her immigration paperwork. NBC News reported, citing a person familiar with the investigation, that the possible charges cited by officials included conspiracy and false statements, and that Omar herself was not subpoenaed.

Sources told CBS News that the investigation involves immigration paperwork her father filed when she was a child. Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000, according to CBS Minnesota. AP reported that Pirro said in a Fox News interview that her office is also looking into issues concerning Omar's financial disclosures.

Omar's lawyers, Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, wrote to prosecutors that agents ignored restrictions a judge had placed on the search, The Washington Post reported. They demanded the return of the seized property, according to The Post.

How have other lawmakers responded?

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement on his website Saturday, "We aggressively oppose the weaponization of the federal government against Congresswoman Omar."

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., said he plans to introduce a resolution to expel Omar if a federal investigation finds she broke the law, The Hill reported.

What happens next?

These items are developing, as of 9:00 a.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 25:

- **Oct. 27:** Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg set an Oct. 27 deadline for the Justice Department to respond to the unsealing requests, according to Raw Story's report of his Oct. 22 order and The Daily Wire. According to Raw Story's report, he did not adopt either of the department's proposed timelines. - **Oct. 30:** The groups seeking the records have until Oct. 30 to reply, according to Raw Story's report of the order and The Daily Wire. After that, the judge could rule on whether to release any warrant records, according to Raw Story. - **Nov. 3:** Omar is seeking a fifth term on Election Day, according to CBS Minnesota. - **Charges:** As of 9:00 a.m. ET Sunday, NewsCubby found no report of any charge against Omar.

For more on the final stretch of the campaign, see NewsCubby's early voting numbers and closing-weekend coverage.

*Earlier NewsCubby coverage: the search of Omar's Washington home and the Justice Department subpoenas.*

*Reporting draws on the Justice Department's Oct. 21 court filing, The Associated Press, NBC News, CBS News, The Hill, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Daily Wire and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries' office.*