📰 General · Fox News
Ilhan Omar raid sparks ominous prediction from watchdog: 'They probably got the goods' - Fox News
From Fox News via USVI News: Oversight Project's Mike Howell warns Ilhan Omar's HSI raid signals deeper congressional accountability failures and predicts more revelations ahead.
Oversight Project President Mike Howell tells Fox News Digital why he believes the HSI raid on Rep. Omar's home could lead to further revelations.
The federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., home prompted warnings Wednesday from a conservative watchdog leader that more revelations could be coming, as the Minnesota Democrat faces separate investigations involving her immigration records and financial disclosures.
Oversight Project President Mike Howell, whose group pushed to strip a $1.031 million earmark backed by Omar, says the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) search raises broader questions about congressional accountability and what investigators may uncover next.
His warning comes as U.S. Attorney Jeanine F. Pirro confirmed on "America Reports" that her office is investigating the Minnesota Democrat's financial disclosures, while separate reporting revealed that federal investigators had subpoenaed Omar's relatives as part of an immigration-related probe.
FEDERAL AGENTS RAID ILHAN OMAR’S DC HOME AMID IMMIGRATION FRAUD INVESTIGATION
Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raided the Washington, D.C., home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., early Monday morning, a source familiar with the operation told Fox News Digital. (Andrew Murray/Fox News Digital)
"I think there's other shoes that are going to drop here," Howell told Fox News Digital.
"That's why I think the Democrats really just couldn't resist the temptation to jump out of this before they saw any evidence and just circle the wagons [around Omar]," he said.
DEMOCRATS' FURY OVER ILHAN OMAR RAID DRAWS STINGING GOP REMINDER ABOUT RAID FROM THE PAST: ‘SET THE PRECEDENT’
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., husband, Tim Mynett, enters Washington, D.C., home that was raided by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents early Monday morning. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images; Andrew Murray/Fox News Digital)
"I will say it appears they're walking that back a little bit. It has shifted from just a wholesale defense of Omar to a non-substantive defense, talking about, ‘well, this stuff was old,’ or ‘this is political since she's Ilhan Omar’."
Howell suggested that Omar’s defenders’ arguments indicate that it’s "not all peaches and cream underneath the hood."
WATCH: ILHAN OMAR DENIES FEDS HAVE CONTACTED HER AFTER BORDER CZAR HOMAN CONFIRMS 'CRIMINAL' INVESTIGATION
Howell's warning extends beyond Omar to what he describes as a broader failure of accountability in Washington, where lawmakers can champion taxpayer-funded projects that later face questions about their legitimacy.
Fox News has learned that federal investigators are examining whether Omar's age was accurately reported when she arrived in the United States in 1995 and when she acquired U.S. citizenship in 2000, including whether any inaccurate information could have affected her eligibility for citizenship through her father under the law in effect at the time.
ILHAN OMAR’S HUSBAND INSISTS HE HAS ‘NO CONCERNS’ AMID FEDERAL IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATION
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine F. Pirro speaks during a news conference on crime in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 11. (Eric Lee/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The inquiry also encompasses paperwork completed by her late father and whether he provided inaccurate information. Sources told Fox News that investigators are examining potential immigration fraud spanning multiple years.
Federal investigators have issued more than a dozen subpoenas as part of the immigration inquiry, including subpoenas to members of Omar's family.
The immigration inquiry is separate from the financial-disclosure investigation being handled by Pirro, sources told Fox News.
"We're in the speculation zone, of course," Howell told Fox News Digital, acknowledging uncertainty about the full scope of the federal investigations.
DEMOCRATS HAVE ‘DIRTY HANDS’ OVER COMPLAINTS ABOUT OMAR RAID WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION, EX-PROSECUTOR SAYS
Still, Howell argued that obtaining a search warrant for a sitting member of Congress in Washington suggested investigators had developed substantial evidence, though the warrant establishes only that a judge found probable cause to believe the search would uncover evidence or other items subject to seizure, not that Omar committed a crime.
This article is republished through the USVI News affiliate desk. Reporting, analysis, and viewpoints are those of the original publisher and do not necessarily reflect USVI News.