Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington home was not the only location searched by federal agents on Monday, according to CBS News, which reported that Mullin described the investigation as a “strong case.”
Mullin made the remarks in an interview with Andrew Kolvet, host of the “Charlie Kirk Show,” CBS News reported. Real America’s Voice also aired a clip of the comments.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said federal agents executed multiple search warrants on the same day they searched Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home, and described the ongoing investigation as a "strong case" while suggesting cases of coordinated…
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 16, 2026
“She wasn’t – or it wasn’t the only place we served the warrant,” Mullin said, according to CBS News. “There was multiple other warrants served on that same day.”
Mullin said a judge authorized the search and that investigators expect to go before a grand jury, CBS News reported. “We had a judge sign it, and we expect to be able to take the case to a grand jury,” he said.
He rejected claims that the probe is political. “But I will tell you, we wouldn’t move forward, and President Trump didn’t want to move forward either, unless we knew that it couldn’t be politically driven,” Mullin said, according to CBS News. “This was about enforcing once again our nation’s laws, and it’s a strong case.”
What the investigation involves
The federal investigation concerns possible fraud involving immigration documents submitted by Omar’s family decades ago, according to CBS News. The outlet reported that the paperwork dates back to Omar’s childhood and was completed by her late father.
Multiple relatives of Omar received grand jury subpoenas as part of the investigation, and the lawmaker’s personal cellphone was taken by DHS, sources told CBS News. The case is being handled by Homeland Security Investigations and the Justice Department, CBS News reported.
Omar has not been charged with a crime. She has called the investigation politically motivated, according to CBS News.
RICO raised as a hypothetical
During the interview, Kolvet asked Mullin about a hypothetical involving a former foreign warlord who entered the United States as a refugee with his daughter, CBS News reported. The outlet noted that Mullin did not establish that the scenario applied to Omar’s family.
Mullin suggested that people who submit fraudulent immigration paperwork and bring others into the country under the same scheme could face racketeering exposure, according to CBS News. “Because there was conspiracy to deceive the American government, and therefore everything else that came in with it could then be looked at [part of] the same case,” he said.
CBS News reported that Mullin did not explicitly say prosecutors are pursuing racketeering charges against Omar. The outlet also noted that criminal RICO cases are generally subject to a five-year statute of limitations.
Omar’s response
Earlier this week, Omar denied all wrongdoing. “Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” she wrote on X, according to CBS News.
President Trump has said he did not know anything about the investigation, CBS News reported. Asked about the Omar probe on Monday, Trump told reporters, “I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ.”
CBS News said it had reached out to Omar’s attorney for comment.
Sources
- CBS News: DHS Secretary Mullin calls Ilhan Omar probe a “strong case,” says agents executed multiple search warrants
- CBS News on X
- Real America’s Voice on X (interview clip)
- AOL (CBS News): DHS Secretary Mullin calls Ilhan Omar probe a “strong case”
Sources cited
Sources
- Original post: CBS News (@CBSNews) on X, Oct 16, 2026
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