Vance Says Neither He nor Trump Knew About Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Search Warrant

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said that neither he nor President Donald Trump were notified before federal agents executed a search warrant at the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) a day earlier.

“I did not have advance notice that her home was being raided,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before heading to Texas.

Vance then said the Department of Justice and its investigations are being conducted “in a fair and honest way.”

“We try to let the law follow the facts rather than creating facts just to prosecute people we don’t like,” he said. “And because of that I think the president and I largely try to stay out of Department of Justice investigations and other prosecutions.”

Vance said there are “serious allegations” against Omar, but that any prosecution must be evidence-based and not handled in a politicized manner.

“If there’s a real case there, we’re going to follow the facts,” Vance said. He did not provide additional details on why Omar’s home was searched or if she could face criminal charges.

In response to the search of her home, Omar and top House Democrats accused the Trump administration of engaging in a politicized investigation.

“I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” the Minnesota Democrat wrote on X. “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other senior House Democrats, in a joint statement on Oct. 12, wrote that the timing of the search warrant execution at Omar’s home was suspect due to the approaching midterms.

“Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family,” the statement said.

Jeffries told reporters at a campaign event in New Hampshire that there is “nothing there relative to behavior that should merit this type of extraordinary raid, let alone inside of 30 days from the date of an election.”

Although few details have been released about the Omar investigation, the Justice Department confirmed to media outlets on Oct. 12 that a judicially authorized search warrant was executed at her home by Homeland Security Investigations.

Before the action, Trump administration officials, including Vance and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, had hinted at a possible inquiry targeting the Minnesota representative.

Last month, Mullin referenced an ongoing investigation into Omar and suggested that there may be possible fraud in her family’s immigration-related filings. “Something’s going to happen,” he said in a post on X at the time.

Trump told reporters on Oct. 12 that he believes Omar is “a terrible person,” but he stressed that any investigation is “really up to the DOJ” and that he has “nothing to do with it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.