United States President Donald Trump has called for Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar to resign from the US Congress, reviving allegations of identity fraud after a court filing identified the Minnesota politician by an additional name. The DOJ filing, submitted on Wednesday, refers to Omar as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar” – “a/k/a” is an abbreviation for “also known as”. The document filed by the administration does not establish that Omar committed fraud.
In response to allegations that Ilhan Omar is not her real name, the lawmaker posted on X, “So let’s make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar”. The controversy follows a federal investigation into Omar’s immigration history and a search of her Washington, DC, home on October 12.
Omar has said she plans to move out of the home, citing safety concerns. October 12: Federal agents search Omar’s home Federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, DC, residence under a “judicially authorised search warrant” as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. It reportedly concerns allegations that Omar or her late father provided false information on immigration paperwork when the family fled Somalia and came to the United States in 1995, when she was a child.
Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the search as political intimidation. October 15: Requests to unseal court records Judicial Watch and The New York Times, alongside 14 other press organisations, filed applications in the US District Court for the District of Columbia seeking access to sealed records related to the search warrant. Judicial Watch said it wanted the warrant, supporting affidavits and an inventory of seized materials made public.
October 21: Justice Department filing identifies Omar by another name In a motion seeking additional time to respond to the requests for records, the Justice Department referred to the congresswoman as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar”. The filing did not explain the relationship between the names. Instead, prosecutors asked the court to delay their response until after they fully executed the search warrant.
The government said it would submit a status report within 30 days of completing the search. October 22: Name allegations become public, Trump calls for resignation Fox News Digital cited the court filing and reported that unnamed sources said that Omar’s birth name was Ilhan Nur Said Elmi. The article prompted renewed speculation about her name and longstanding rumours concerning her 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
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