Rep. Jamie Raskin calls federal search of Ilhan Omar’s home a scandalous abuse of power

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) denounced a federal search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 13, 2026, calling it a “scandalous abuse of prosecutorial and executive power.”

The remarks arrived three weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, intensifying worries that the raid could be used to sway the political climate ahead of the vote.

Raskin made the comments on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” alongside co‑host Jonathan Lemire. He argued that the operation violated Department of Justice rules that prohibit overt investigative or prosecutorial activity within 60 days of an election, noting that the search occurred only 21 days before voters head to the polls.

“Well, it’s profoundly troubling. It violates the Department of Justice’s own rules, which is that it does not engage in overt investigative or prosecutorial activity within 60 days of an election. And we’re now within 21 days of an election. It’s hard to see how this is an emergency, because what they’re talking about is looking for evidence of fraud that may have been committed by Ilhan Omar’s father in the 1990s.”

Raskin added that the raid appeared to target Omar for alleged fraud involving her father from the 1990s, and likened it to prior investigations of Democratic lawmakers such as Adam Schiff, Jason Crow, Maggie Goodland and Mark Kelly, all of which had ultimately collapsed.

The Department of Homeland Security carried out the raid, but officials have not provided a public accounting of the justification, prompting congressional leaders to demand transparency.

Democratic members across the House have rallied around Omar, labeling the operation as politically motivated and urging the Justice Department to adhere to its own election‑time policies.

The Justice Department has not yet responded to requests for comment, and the issue is expected to dominate political discourse as voters head to the polls next month.