Former US President Barack Obama condemned the Trump administration's investigation into Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar's naturalization, calling it an attempt to intimidate the president's opponents.
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Obama wrote on Sunday via the X platform: "The willingness of any president or administration to engage in such blatant efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of their stance on Representative Omar's political views."
He added: "If this becomes the norm, there is no reason to believe that it will stop there, or that future presidents from either party will not follow the same approach."
Obama said authorities were using "the full weight of the federal government" against an elected official for daring to criticize the president, arguing that previous prosecutions of Trump's critics had faltered or been dropped due to a lack of legal basis.
He suggested that this would be repeated in Omar's case, warning that the investigation would incur heavy legal expenses and distract her from performing her duties in serving the people of Minnesota.
Obama’s stance is particularly important after Trump promoted false claims about her American citizenship for years.
Federal agents had searched Omar's Washington home on October 12 , pursuant to a court order, and seized her phone as part of an investigation into whether she or her late father had provided false information on immigration documents 26 years earlier.
Reuters, citing informed sources, reported that the search warrant relates to suspicions of conspiracy, immigration fraud, and making false statements, while authorities are considering stripping Omar of her US citizenship and deporting her.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the US administration is seeking to build a legal case that would allow the congresswoman to be stripped of her citizenship and deported .
Omar arrived in the United States from Somalia in 1995 as a child and obtained citizenship in 2000 through her father's naturalization, when she was 17 years old according to official records. However, investigators are trying to determine if she was actually a year older, which would have prevented her from automatically receiving citizenship.
In a related development, the Associated Press reported that more than 12 subpoenas were issued to a grand jury in Minnesota, including some of Omar's relatives.
On October 16, the congresswoman's lawyers demanded the return of the confiscated property , arguing that the search was unjustified and illegal. The Justice Department responded that its officers had complied with all court orders and legal requirements.
The Washington Post revealed that the first Trump administration reviewed similar allegations in 2019, including Omar's date of birth and her father's immigration record, but found insufficient evidence to launch a full investigation. The allegations had previously circulated on social media.
Omar denied the allegations, calling them "disgusting lies" and claiming the investigation was a politically motivated witch hunt aimed at intimidating her. Democrats also accused the administration of abusing its power ahead of the November 3 congressional elections, while Trump denied any involvement in the investigation, asserting that it was a matter for the Justice Department.
In a separate development, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro in Washington announced that her office is also investigating the congresswoman's financial disclosures , despite a September recommendation by a congressional watchdog to drop allegations of wrongdoing related to those disclosures.