(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to unseal the records related to the October 12, 2026, search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) Washington, DC, home by federal agents:
Judicial Watch seeks the warrant, its application, all supporting affidavits and attachments, any return and inventory, the docket sheet, and all related briefs, motions, orders, opinions, and transcripts filed in this matter, including records concerning the scope of the search and the sealing of these materials.
On Monday, October 12, federal agents reportedly seized Omar’s cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and passport.
The U.S. Department of Justice has publicly confirmed that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. News reports have linked the investigation to “potential allegations of false statements and immigration fraud.”
The motion states:
Judicial Watch’s interest in allegations concerning Representative Omar predates the present search. On July 23, 2019, Judicial Watch filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an investigation of allegations of perjury, immigration fraud, marriage fraud, state and federal tax fraud, and federal student loan fraud. Obtaining and analyzing the warrant materials would further Judicial Watch’s longstanding efforts to inform the public about these issues and the government’s response.
In addition, Judicial Watch argues that the public has a right to access these judicial records under common law and the First Amendment. Specifically, Judicial Watch asserts:
[T]he public’s need for access is substantial. The government has searched an elected official’s home and has publicly acknowledged an ongoing criminal investigation, even to the point of commenting on its conduct. Representative Omar has disputed the government’s account and used the search and those comments to solicit campaign contributions. News reports based on unnamed sources have added accounts of the Court’s restrictions and the government’s requests. The public has a legitimate interest in understanding the factual basis for the warrant and the government’s exercise of its investigative authority….
“The public has a right to know about what potential crimes spurred the federal government to conduct a search of Ilhan Omar’s home,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
In August 2022, Judicial Watch forced the release of a heavily redacted affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for the unprecedented raid on former President Trump’s home, following a court order granting Judicial Watch’s request to unseal the records.
In August 2026, a federal court unsealed the key search warrant records behind the Biden FBI’s September 2022 seizure of Mike Lindell’s cell phone (In the Matter of the Search of a Person Located in the District of Minnesota (No. 22-mj-742 (TNL))). The records, unsealed at the request of Judicial Watch and Mike Lindell, show that the Biden FBI used private litigant Dominion Voting Systems’ then-pending $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Mike Lindell and others (a lawsuit that had been settled as to Lindell earlier this year) as well as other information from Dominion as part of its justification for seeking the warrant.
Judicial Watch has also moved to unseal warrant materials targeting Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing, and Michael Caputo.
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