Obama Unloads on Trump DOJ’s Ilhan Omar Investigation and Raid at Her Home: ‘Appalling’

(AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

Former President Barack Obama trashed the Trump administration’s investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as “appalling” in a lengthy rebuke on Sunday, calling the raid on the lawmaker’s Washington home an attempt to find a “nonexistent smoking gun” and bid to “intimidate.”

Federal agents searched Omar’s home on Oct. 12 as part of an investigation focused on her immigration history and family paperwork. Authorities seized records and her phone, while relatives have also received subpoenas. Federal officials have not publicly disclosed evidence showing Omar committed a crime.

Lashing out in a post stretching over 400 words via X on Sunday, the former president wrote: “The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.”

He continued: “And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve.”

Obama spent several paragraphs slamming the investigation and argued the administration was attempting to build a case “on the unsubstantiated theory” that Omar was actually 18, rather than 17, when her father became a naturalized U.S. citizen, a distinction that could affect whether she automatically obtained citizenship through him.

He continued: “Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone – all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.”

Omar, one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent congressional critics, has described the investigation as “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” Trump has denied involvement, but has repeatedly attacked Omar at campaign events, including a recent rally in Ohio where chants of “deport” broke out.

“The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views,” Obama wrote.

“Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same,” he added.

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