Obama Blasts Trump Administration’s Ilhan Omar Investigation as ‘Appalling’ in Lengthy Social Media Post

Former President Barack Obama tore into the Trump administration’s investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Sunday, calling the probe “appalling” and accusing officials of raiding the congresswoman’s Washington home in search of a “nonexistent smoking gun” and in an effort to “intimidate.”

Federal agents searched Omar’s home on Oct. 12 as part of an investigation centered on her immigration history and family paperwork. Authorities seized records and her phone, and relatives have also received subpoenas.

Federal officials have not publicly disclosed any evidence showing that Omar committed a crime.

In a post on X stretching more than 400 words, Obama came to Omar’s defense and accused the administration of targeting her for political reasons.
“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,” Obama wrote.

The former president went on to argue that the probe fits a broader pattern.

“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,” he wrote.

Obama devoted several paragraphs to criticizing the investigation, arguing that the administration was attempting to build a case “on the unsubstantiated theory” that Omar was actually 18, not 17, when her father became a naturalized U.S. citizen. That distinction could determine whether Omar automatically obtained citizenship through her father.

“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,” Obama wrote.

Omar, one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent critics in Congress, has described the investigation as “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

Trump has denied any involvement in the investigation. However, the president has repeatedly gone after Omar at campaign events, including a recent rally in Ohio where chants of “deport” broke out.

Obama urged Americans across the political spectrum to take notice of the case.

“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,” he wrote.

The former president also warned that the precedent could outlast the current administration.

“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,” Obama added.

The rare and lengthy rebuke from the former president places him squarely in the middle of one of the most contentious political fights of the moment, as the investigation into the Minnesota Democrat’s immigration history continues.

At the heart of the probe is the question of Omar’s age when her father was naturalized, a detail that could bear on whether she automatically became a citizen through him. Obama dismissed that line of inquiry as an unsubstantiated theory, while federal officials have so far not made public any evidence of wrongdoing by the congresswoman.