Dozens of House Democrats have not signed a letter led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) defending her “squad” ally embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — whose real name is “Ilhan Noor Saeed Elmi” — as she faces a federal investigation into her citizenship.
In the letter, signed by 175 Democrats, Jayapal accused the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department of weaponizing law enforcement against Omar over her opposition to President Donald Trump and argued the investigation could sway voters for her re-election.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) signed the letter, but about 40 House Democrats did not, the New York Post reported. The lack of a signature doesn’t necessarily mean they think Omar did something wrong.
Those who did not sign the letter include Reps. Mary Grusenkamp Perez (D-WA), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Tom Souzi (D-NY), Laura Gillen (D-NY) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ). Anyone who doesn’t sign, other than Pelosi, is from a hotly contested district and could face backlash from their own voters if they appear to side with a far-left figure like Omar.
Check out the Daily Wire midterm hub
“This weaponization of law enforcement to harass a sitting member of Congress 22 days before an election is unprecedented and unacceptable,” the letter stated. “The Department of Justice has long followed a policy of not pursuing investigative measures against candidates so close to an election if delaying action would not jeopardize a criminal investigation, a policy Attorney General Branch had previously invoked as early as nine months before the election.”
Despite Omar’s efforts to suggest the contrary, the investigation into the Minnesota congresswoman began under former President Joe Biden’s administration to determine whether her claims of U.S. citizenship were valid.
Federal law enforcement officials raided her Washington, D.C., home earlier this month, looking for documents related to her late father’s naturalization — which Omar said was naturalized in 2000. Questions have also been raised about her father’s role in the Somali army and her actual date of birth.
Complicating matters further, a 2023 response to a records request filed by Omar’s former primary challenger AJ Kern said USCIS could not find any record of Omar’s father’s naturalization.