Tom Emmer Questions Whether Ilhan Omar Can Keep Her Seat: 'I Don't Think We're Going To Need To'
Rep. Tom Emmer is questioning whether fellow Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar can keep her House seat after winning reelection.
The incoming Republican minority whip raised the issue Wednesday on Newsmax when he was asked whether House Republicans would try to exclude Omar if prosecutors secured an indictment before the next Congress.
"I don't think we're going to need to," Emmer said.
He pointed to an investigation into Omar's birth year and her account of becoming a U.S. citizen through her father. Emmer accused Omar of lying about her age and said he believed the Justice Department was finalizing its findings. Asked who would establish the date, Emmer pointed to the Justice Department.
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The Birth Year Question
Emmer's argument turns on whether Omar was still a minor when her father became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Omar arrived in the United States in 1995 at roughly 12 and says she obtained citizenship through her father's naturalization.
Emmer argued that route required her to be younger than 18 when her father naturalized. The two birth years under scrutiny are 1981 and 1982.
In May 2019, Omar's staff asked that records list her birth year as 1982 instead of 1981, according to reporting. That request put both dates in the public record, where critics have questioned why the earlier year appeared.
Emmer argued that proof Omar was already 18 would undermine her citizenship claim and put her eligibility for Congress in question. He did not cite any formal determination that her citizenship status had changed.
Omar has denied wrongdoing, including the longstanding allegation that her former husband Ahmed Elmi is her brother.
What Investigators Are Reviewing
Emmer said four separate matters were under examination. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin previously said his department presented a large case to the Justice Department, which took over.
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Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar's Washington home on October 12 and removed boxes from the residence. Investigators are reportedly examining whether federal documents contained false information tied to her claim of citizenship through her father.
The inquiry also reportedly covers whether Omar's 2009 marriage to Elmi, a British citizen, was entered into for immigration purposes. The New York Post reported that the certified Hennepin County marriage license showed Omar's surname crossed out, replaced with Elmi and then restored. Her House financial disclosures are also reportedly under review.
The scrutiny was already underway when Omar won reelection on November 3 in Minnesota's heavily Democratic Fifth Congressional District. The win returned her to one of the state's strongest Democratic districts, where she has repeatedly been reelected, and Emmer's interview shifted attention back to what federal investigators might find before the new House convenes.
In her victory speech, Omar cast the investigation as an attempt to intimidate her and keep her supporters from voting. "They thought they were going to find a community that was going to live in fear," she said, adding that those who came after her underestimated how her district would respond.
For Republicans pressing for answers, the immediate question is whether the Justice Department will release findings that resolve the conflicting dates before the new House convenes.