A federal court filing in Washington has identified Rep. Ilhan Omar by a different legal name, intensifying scrutiny of the Minnesota Democrat as investigators examine whether she or her father committed fraud in her immigration paperwork. The motion, filed by U.S. District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, refers to the congresswoman as «Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar» while seeking to keep a search warrant for her home sealed.
Two people familiar with the investigation, including a law enforcement source, told Fox News Digital that Ilhan Omar is not the congresswoman's real name and that her legal name is Ilhan Nur Said Elmi. The filing states that federal authorities have not finished executing the warrant and that the materials should not be unsealed yet. Several media outlets had requested access to the records.
The disclosure comes after federal agents conducted a pre-dawn raid on Omar's Washington residence on Oct. 12, obtaining her DNA and seizing her personal phone and passport. Investigators are probing whether Omar or her father committed fraud when completing her immigration paperwork. Her sister, Sahra Noor, was questioned by federal investigators last week in connection with the probe.
Omar has not been charged with a crime, and the materials presented by prosecutors are only allegations. Attorneys for the congresswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
Nathan Hansen, a former federal immigration judge from Minnesota, said a name discrepancy could have broad legal consequences. «You think of all the types of documents somebody like her might have filled out,» he said, listing federal student loan and student aid applications, housing and public assistance applications, passport and driver's license information, Real ID information and voting records. «If this is not, like, a real legal name, it's got some legal backing to it that every type of government form she's filled out in her entire existence might be called into question,» Hansen said. He added that such documents are often sworn under penalty of perjury and that wire fraud charges are sometimes added in similar cases.
Omar has publicly confirmed that she does not have a birth certificate. Her official House biography lists her birthday as Oct. 14, 1982, and states that she was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. She says she came to the United States with her family as refugees fleeing war-torn Somalia in 1995, when she was a minor.
The congresswoman, who represents Minnesota's 5th Congressional District, has long faced allegations that she married her brother for immigration purposes. In 2009, she legally married a man named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, and the pair split in 2017. She was elected to Congress the following year and married political consultant Tim Mynett in 2020.
In her first public interview since the raid, Omar denied the allegations, calling them «insane.» Asked by MS NOW's Chris Hayes whether she was related to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi at all, she replied, «Not to my knowledge.»
Omar has accused President Donald Trump and his administration of targeting her politically. «This raid by Trump's DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies,» she said in a statement on X. She added that the president should not be able to use federal power to intimidate political opponents.
The case has drawn attention from conservative figures and Republican lawmakers, some of whom have called for Omar's deportation if citizenship fraud is proven. The investigation remains ongoing, and no charges have been filed.