House Oversight Chairman James Comer is calling on the Trump administration to publicly release any evidence gathered in an immigration investigation involving Rep. Ilhan Omar, saying lawmakers should consider whether expulsion is warranted if violations are established.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is urging the Trump administration to release any evidence federal investigators have gathered concerning Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration history, saying Congress should be able to evaluate the allegations and determine whether they warrant an expulsion vote.
Comer, R-Ky., made the comments Monday after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and White House border czar Tom Homan said a federal investigation involving the Minnesota Democrat is underway.
“I think they should make it public. Absolutely, make it public,” Comer said during an interview on Just the News, No Noise. “The evidence that I’ve seen would show that they would be privy to a lot more evidence than I would have. Most of the evidence I have is public already, anyway. So I think it should be made public, and I think the members of Congress should be the judge and the jury in this.
“Let us vote as to whether or not she needs to remain in Congress. If you violated the laws to become a citizen, should that make you ineligible to be a member of Congress? I think so. But put it up for a vote in Congress and let the American people see how their member of Congress would vote on that.”
Comer’s comments followed an allegation by Mullin that Omar entered into a fraudulent marriage years ago for immigration purposes.
“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him to the United States,” Mullin told conservative commentator Benny Johnson last week, adding that the former husband now lives in London.
Mullin said the matter remains under investigation and suggested investigators are examining whether immigration laws were violated. He did not publicly release documentation substantiating the allegation during the interview.
The accusation that Omar married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, a British citizen she legally married in 2009 and divorced in 2017, has circulated for years. Omar has repeatedly denied that Elmi is her brother or that the marriage was part of an immigration scheme.
A 2019 investigation by the Minnesota Star Tribune examined public records, marriage and divorce documents, university records and other information but reported it could “neither conclusively confirm nor rebut” the claim that Elmi was Omar’s sibling.
Omar became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000 at age 17 after arriving in the United States as a refugee from Somalia. She has represented Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District since 2019.
Homan said Sunday that Homeland Security Investigations is continuing to examine the matter but declined to disclose what evidence investigators possess.
“I know things are going on, but I can’t give specifics of what’s happening,” Homan said.
“If someone committed an immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they’re a congressman or not, no one’s above the law. So, I’ll leave it at that. We’ll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation,” he added.
No criminal charge or civil denaturalization case against Omar has been publicly announced.
That distinction is significant because allegations of immigration fraud would have to be established through the legal process rather than through a congressional vote. The Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation files civil denaturalization actions in federal district court when the government alleges that citizenship was illegally procured or obtained through concealment or willful misrepresentation.
Expulsion from Congress is a separate constitutional process.
Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution gives each chamber authority to expel one of its members, but only with the concurrence of two-thirds of that chamber. The House therefore could consider disciplinary action against Omar if members chose to do so, but expulsion would require support from two-thirds of representatives voting on the matter.
Comer’s demand places additional pressure on federal investigators to disclose what, if anything, they have found beyond information already available publicly.
Mullin has characterized the inquiry as an ongoing investigation and said any potential case should be based on evidence rather than politics.
Omar has consistently rejected the underlying marriage allegation. Earlier reporting found irregularities in her marital and tax history, including joint tax filings with Ahmed Hirsi during a period when she remained legally married to Elmi, but those issues did not establish that Elmi was her brother. Omar later corrected the tax discrepancy.
Comer’s comments came as he simultaneously prepared another major action through the House Oversight Committee involving financier Leon Black and the congressional investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Black, the former CEO and co-founder of Apollo Global Management, failed to appear for a Sept. 3 deposition after the committee subpoenaed him for testimony and documents concerning his relationship with Epstein and nondisclosure agreements.
“Look, we’ve issued a lawful subpoena. It was a bipartisan subpoena. It was voted on by the committee and both parties. This is a person of interest. We are not accusing him of any wrongdoing. Everyone is entitled to due process,” Comer said.
“But we have some questions, not just for him, but we also have questions about potential non-disclosure agreements that he may have signed with some of these Epstein victims. So there are a lot of important questions that he needs to answer, and he defied a lawful subpoena. So the next step is to hold him in contempt,” he added.
The Oversight Committee scheduled a Tuesday markup of a resolution recommending that the full House hold Black in contempt of Congress. The committee says Black failed both to appear for his deposition and to produce subpoenaed nondisclosure agreements.
The contempt effort has support from the committee’s Democratic leadership as well. Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said he supports beginning the contempt process after Black declined to comply with the subpoenas.
Black instead filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the congressional demands, arguing that the committee is exceeding its authority by seeking private information that falls outside a legitimate legislative purpose.
“The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility,” Black attorney Susan Estrich said.
Black has not been accused by the committee of participating in Epstein’s crimes. The panel says it wants information concerning his extensive financial relationship with Epstein and any nondisclosure agreements potentially relevant to its investigation.
The two issues leave Comer pressing separate questions of congressional oversight: whether federal officials should disclose evidence they say is being examined in the Omar investigation, and whether the House should use its contempt authority against Black for refusing to comply with subpoenas.
On Omar, Comer said his preferred next step is disclosure.
Federal officials have now publicly confirmed an investigation, but the evidence underlying their statements has not been released. Until it is, Mullin’s accusation against Omar remains an allegation rather than an established finding of immigration fraud.
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