Judicial Watch Challenges Government Secrecy Over Search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s DC Home

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a reply brief urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to unseal search warrant records related to the October 12, 2026, federal search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) Washington, DC, home.

The October 30 filing argues that the government has failed to justify keeping the entire warrant docket secret. Judicial Watch seeks disclosure of the warrant, application, supporting affidavits, inventory of seized property, and related court records, with any continued withholding limited to specifically justified information.

Judicial Watch emphasizes that Omar has publicly challenged the search and used it to raise campaign money but has not objected in court to releasing the records:

Yet nothing has been filed on her behalf in any of the three cases now consolidated before this Court. She has not intervened, has not submitted a letter, and has not asked the Court to keep anything sealed.

The brief further states:

Representative Omar has chosen what to say about the search and has asked the public to fund her account of it. She is entitled to do so. But the public is entitled to the official record against which to measure that account, and the Government’s account as well.

“Ilhan Omar is using this search to raise campaign cash, yet she hasn’t asked the court to keep the records secret. Why is the government fighting to hide information about her alleged crimes?” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Americans deserve to see the facts about the alleged disturbing allegations about Ilhan Omar.”

Judicial Watch initially moved to unseal the records on October 15. Its reply supports that request in proceedings now consolidated as In re Application of Fourteen Press Organizations for Access to Sealed Search Warrant Records (No. 1:26-mc-144-JEB).

As detailed in Judicial Watch’s earlier release, federal agents reportedly seized Omar’s cellphone, notebooks, computers, and passport. The Justice Department confirmed that Homeland Security Investigations carried out a court-authorized search in an ongoing criminal investigation. News reports connected the investigation to potential false statements and immigration fraud.

Judicial Watch’s investigation of allegations concerning Omar dates to July 2019, when it submitted an ethics complaint seeking an investigation into allegations involving perjury, immigration and marriage fraud, tax fraud, and student loan fraud.

Judicial Watch previously obtained the release of a heavily redacted affidavit supporting the August 2022 search of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. It also helped secure the unsealing of records concerning the FBI’s September 2022 seizure of Mike Lindell’s cellphone.

Judicial Watch has also moved to unseal warrant materials targeting Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing, and Michael Caputo.

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