Dem operative admits Ilhan Omar case has legs as liberal firewall begins to crack: 'I'm not stupid'

A prominent Minnesota Democrat who served in the state's House of Representatives revealed on Thursday he believes the federal probe into Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has legitimacy.

It's the latest signal that the political dam may be breaking as scandals and investigations into the congresswoman continue to pile up.

"Democrats should understand that the allegation is almost certainly true—whatever conclusion they draw from that point could vary—and her denials calling it a right-wing, Islamophobic or racist conspiracy are almost certainly not," Joe Radinovich posted on X in reference to the claims that Omar married her brother as part of an alleged fraudulent immigration scheme.

Radinovich, who served as a Minnesota state representative from 2013 to 2015 as a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), added to his post that, in addition to the probe into her immigration status, the investigation into her finances could also be problematic.

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"And then I’d be very, very careful about how I qualified on allegations around her finances—where her defense looks similar and where no meaningful questions have been answered publicly, and where any objective look at the evidence doesn’t look…great," the former state representative said.

Radinovich, a well-connected DFL operative with ties to the party’s state, federal and Minneapolis political establishments, managed Democrat Rick Nolan’s 2016 congressional campaign, ran Jacob Frey’s successful 2017 campaign for Minneapolis mayor and later served as Frey’s chief of staff. He also won the DFL nomination for Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District in 2018 before losing to Republican Pete Stauber.

Briana Rose Lee, a Minneapolis DFL activist who served as an operations director for Omar’s campaign operation, responded to the post calling it a "witch hunt."

"Joe. You aren’t stupid," she wrote. "You know this is a baseless and manufactured witch hunt. I’m actually surprised to see this from you. It’s a new low."

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Radinovich stood by his comments.

"You’re right," Radinovich wrote. "I’m not stupid. I believe the Trump DOJ has next to no credibility and that it’s unclear to me the timing of the raid was appropriate—though it’s notable a DC judge signed off on it—but I’m pretty confident this specific allegation is true."

Notably, Radinovich had a hand in two Democratic primary challenges against Omar, working with candidate Don Samuels in 2022 and 2024. Samuels lost both bids. 

Radinovich’s post is the latest example of the scrutiny surrounding Omar’s legal issues not being confined to conservative media or the MAGA base.

Outlets including the New York Times, MSNBC, NBC News and The Associated Press have reported on evidence suggesting Omar’s marriage and citizenship may have been fraudulent, although no criminal charges have been filed against the Minnesota congresswoman.

Omar's Washington, D.C., home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Oct. 12, 2026. HSI is the chief investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Her passport, phone and computer were seized during the early-morning operation.

Fox News later reported that investigators are in possession of Omar's DNA. Omar's sister, Sahra Noor, voluntarily submitted to questioning shortly after the raid, skipping out on her book tour for a "family emergency."

Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital that the raid stemmed from an investigation into whether Omar or her late father, Nur Mohamed, fraudulently filled out her citizenship paperwork decades ago. The investigation, the sources noted, could lead to the congresswoman's denaturalization.

But questions about whether Omar allegedly married her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, in a fraudulent immigration scheme have also arisen. Omar has been plagued by the accusation for a decade, since she first ran for Minnesota state representative in 2016.

Court filings from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia referred to Omar as "Ilhan Omar Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Omar," suggesting that she shares a surname with the man she married in 2009. Ahmed Nur Said Elmi is a British citizen. Sources later told Fox News Digital that Ilhan Omar is not the Somali-born congresswoman's "real name."

Omar's office has consistently denied the immigration fraud allegation, characterizing it as a right-wing smear. Most recently, she has said that the renewed scrutiny is the product of a political "vendetta" by President Donald Trump.

But Thursday, Fox News Digital confirmed that former President Barack Obama's administration opened a probe into the allegedly fraudulent marriage in 2016. One source told Fox News Digital that the investigation remained open until 2021, when it was closed by the Biden administration. The Times reported that investigators believed the statute of limitations on a potential crime had passed.

Omar's campaign attacked Radinovich in a Friday morning comment to Fox News Digital. 

"Joe is a deeply troubled individual whose demons have sadly manifested as an irrational obsession with Congresswoman Omar after managing two losing campaigns against her," the campaign said. "His claims are false, biased, and without any evidence. While he was once seen as a rising star within the party, Joe is now widely recognized as a shill for Republican and Corporate money."