Nearly 40 House Dems skip effort to end Ilhan Omar immigration probe
Nearly 40 House Democrats appear to have shunned an effort by their colleagues to end the federal probe into Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
House Democrats led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., sent a letter to the Trump administration earlier this week demanding a stop to the investigation into Omar's immigration paperwork, arguing it was a bid to sway her re-election campaign ahead of Tuesday's midterm Election Day.
The letter was backed by some 175 House Democrats, more than two-thirds of the caucus — though some notable names were left off.
Two of three of House Democrats' previous senior leadership did not sign the letter. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., did not sign on. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who previously served as House majority whip, was among the signatories, along with all three current members of House Democratic leadership.
Both Pelosi and Hoyer are retiring, but it's worth noting that nearing the exit did not stop other outgoing members like Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., from signing the letter.
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO WHY REMOVING ILHAN OMAR FROM CONGRESS COULD BE HARDER THAN TRUMP EXPECTS
Democrats running in tight races also kept their distance from the public condemnation of the probe. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., and Don Davis, D-N.C., are among the names left off the letter as well.
Fox News Digital reached out to each of them for comment but did not immediately hear back.
ILHAN OMAR BELIEVES TRUMP RAID ON HOME WAS MEANT TO 'INTIMIDATE AND SCARE PEOPLE' FROM VOTING
"Congresswoman Omar is seeking reelection in Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in just one week. News of the search warrant, whether properly predicated or not, could affect voters’ decisions, which is exactly why federal law enforcement should not engage in such conduct when voters are casting their ballots. This type of interference strips Minnesotans of their right to a free and fair election guaranteed to them under the Constitution," the letter said.
"We stand with Congresswoman Omar and condemn the weaponization of law enforcement against her. You have already disgraced the offices you hold, and we demand you refrain from taking any further actions that could affect the outcome of the upcoming election."
ILHAN OMAR SHOULD BE JAILED, DEPORTED IF CITIZENSHIP FRAUD PROVEN, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS
Omar is under federal investigation over allegations she or her father lied about her birth year on immigration paperwork to obtain her citizenship when her family fled Somalia in the late 1990s. If she was 17 when her father obtained citizenship, as previously thought, she would have automatically qualified along with him. If she was 18 or older, which federal officials now suspect, she would have had to make her own application.
Her fellow House Democrats recounted the allegations in their letter, saying, "Your probe into the congresswoman reportedly concerns her late father’s filing of immigration paperwork after she fled Somalia’s civil war at age eight, making her a U.S. citizen at age seventeen."
But they argued it does not justify "a pre-dawn raid on her home for paperwork her father filed when she was a minor."
Federal agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant on Omar's home on Oct. 12, seizing multiple phones and notebooks, among other items.
Omar has dismissed the investigation as a political attack against one of President Donald Trump's staunchest critics.