Joe Biden's Justice Department buried the Ilhan Omar immigration fraud investigation in 2021 and never explained why.
Now the investigation is back open – and this time, Omar's own party can’t protect her.
Because a Democrat who spent years trying to beat her from inside the party just said something her allies have spent years trying to deny.
Democrat Insider Says Omar Brother Marriage Allegations Are Almost Certainly True
Joe Radinovich is a former Minnesota state legislator who managed congressional campaigns for Democrats and served as chief of staff to the mayor of Minneapolis.
He also spent years trying to remove Ilhan Omar from office through the Democratic primary – managing challenger Don Samuels against her in both 2022 and 2024.
Radinovich went on X and said what Minnesota Democrats have refused to say out loud for nearly a decade.
"Democrats should understand that the allegation is almost certainly true… and her denials calling it a right-wing, Islamophobic or racist conspiracy are almost certainly not," he wrote.
That is not a Republican talking.
That is one of the most connected Democrat operatives in Minnesota telling his own party they have been defending someone who committed fraud.
When a Minneapolis Democratic activist and former Omar campaign staffer named Briana Rose Lee called it a "baseless and manufactured witch hunt," Radinovich held his ground.
"You're right. I'm not stupid," he shot back – then pointed out that a DC federal judge had signed off on the warrant to search her home.
A federal judge who was appointed by Democrats on the DC District Court looked at the evidence against Ilhan Omar and said: yes, search her home, seize her devices, take her passport.
Radinovich also issued a second warning to Democrats – this one about her finances.
He said he would be "very, very careful" about defending her on financial allegations where "no meaningful questions have been answered publicly" and where "any objective look at the evidence doesn't look… great."
What Agents Seized and What the Name Ilhan Nur Said Elmi Reveals
When Homeland Security Investigations agents left Omar's DC residence on October 12, they carried out her passport, her phone, and her computer.
Federal investigators are examining whether Omar or her late father fraudulently provided information on citizenship paperwork decades ago – documentation that goes directly to whether her own citizenship is legitimate.
The Department of Justice confirmed the search was "part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation."
Court filings identify the congresswoman not as Ilhan Omar but as Ilhan Nur Said Elmi – a name federal investigators say she has been concealing.
The investigation traces back to 2009, when Omar married a man named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi – alleged by investigators to be her biological brother – in what prosecutors believe was a scheme to fraudulently obtain immigration benefits.
The Obama administration opened a case in 2016 and ran it for five years – then Joe Biden's DOJ quietly closed it in 2021 with no charges, no explanation, and no public findings.
Now it is back open, with HSI agents executing court-authorized search warrants and subpoenas going out to Omar's relatives.
Ted Cruz spelled out the consequences: up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and deportation.
Omar's campaign responded to Radinovich by calling him "a deeply troubled individual" whose criticism stems from managing two losing campaigns against her.
They did not address a single thing he actually said.
The Islamophobia Shield Just Collapsed From the Inside
Democrats have played the Islamophobia card on these allegations for nearly a decade, and it worked as long as every critic was a Republican.
Now their own people are talking – and not just anyone.
Radinovich spent years embedded in Omar's political world – and left it with one conclusion.
When someone with that history publicly calls the evidence real and her denials lies, the "right-wing conspiracy" shield does not just crack – it collapses entirely.
Biden’s DOJ buried this case once to protect a Squad member who had become untouchable inside the Democratic Party.
The Trump DOJ dug it back up, built it into a full criminal investigation, and sent agents to execute a search warrant on her home.
Border Czar Tom Homan confirmed a criminal probe in September, agents showed up with a federal warrant in October, and now in November a top Democratic insider is publicly confirming what conservatives have argued for years.
Ilhan Omar lied.
Her party covered for her.
And neither can stop what’s coming next.
Sources:
- Ally Goelz, "Ilhan Omar's own Democratic allies break ranks as ex-party insider says marriage fraud allegations are 'almost certainly true'," New York Post, October 31, 2026.
- Peter D'Abrosca, "Immigration enforcement officials search Ilhan Omar's home in pre-dawn raid," Fox News, October 12, 2026.
- Jennie Taer, "Ilhan Omar Responds After Feds Raid Her Home," The Daily Wire, October 12, 2026.
- "Ilhan Omar will get 'equal justice' in immigration fraud investigation: Vance," Washington Examiner, May 19, 2026.
- Alex Miller, "Cruz says Rep Ilhan Omar could face jail time, deportation if marriage allegation proves true," Fox News, December 12, 2025.
- "Ilhan Omar investigated by DOJ over 'immigration fraud, family finances'," Fox 9, May 2026.