Democrats have ‘dirty hands’ over complaints about Omar raid weeks before election, ex-prosecutor says

DOJ Raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington Home Sparks Accusations of Election‑Year Misconduct

A federal search of Representative Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., residence in early 2024 has prompted a sharp rebuke from Democrats and a defense from former federal prosecutors who say the Justice Department followed its own policy. The raid, carried out by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), stemmed from an inquiry into immigration paperwork completed by Omar’s father when she was a child. The timing—just weeks before the November 2024 election—has raised questions about whether the Department of Justice (DOJ) breached its unwritten 60‑day rule, a practice that discourages politically sensitive investigations within two months of an election.

The Raid and Its Legal Basis

HSI executed a pre‑dawn raid on Omar’s D.C. home on a day in February 2024, a few weeks before the election. A magistrate judge in Washington approved the search warrant after reviewing the sworn statement of investigators, indicating that probable cause existed. “There’s at least probable cause,” former prosecutor Jim Trusty told Fox News Digital. “It’s a long way off from proving a case at trial.”

The DOJ has long relied on an informal “60‑day rule,” which is not codified in the agency’s manual but is meant to keep politically sensitive actions from influencing an upcoming election. Trusty pointed out that the rule “does not create a ban; it just creates effectively a consultation requirement to higher level leadership before it can happen.”

Democratic Condemnation

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D‑Md., released a statement accusing the DOJ of violating protocol. “Just 22 days before the elections, this is blatant political intimidation and an attempt to interfere with the Congresswoman’s reelection,” Raskin wrote. He added that the raid exemplified the DOJ’s overt actions in a “politically‑sensitive matter” within the 60‑day window.

Omar herself took to the social‑media platform X, calling the raid an “outrageous abuse of power” and “unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.” She said, “For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar… putting a target on her back.”

Former Prosecutors Respond

In contrast, former federal prosecutors Abhishek Kambil and Jim Trusty defended the DOJ’s conduct. Kambil said that the DOJ Manual does not prescribe a 60‑day limitation, and that any action that could be seen as influencing an election must receive prior approval from the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General. “The