The federal investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar just took another remarkable turn.

Federal investigators are now holding the Minnesota Democrat’s personal passport — and Fox News says they are also in possession of her DNA.

But there is an important distinction in the latest report.

Authorities do not have Omar’s official congressional passport.

That gap immediately fueled online speculation that Omar might have left the United States.

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Fox’s sources pushed back on that theory.

They reportedly believe Omar remains inside the country and are not concerned that she fled. The fact that investigators do not hold her official passport is not evidence that she used it or left the United States.

That is the responsible line here: the personal passport and DNA are confirmed as evidence in federal hands through source-based reporting; the flight rumor is not.

Fox draws the passport distinction.

Fox News reported Monday night that authorities are in possession of Omar’s DNA and passport while the federal investigation continues.

The network’s short report followed days of new disclosures about the October 12 search of Omar’s Washington home, the seizure of electronic devices and the expanding use of grand-jury subpoenas. It aired on “Special Report” as Bret Baier delivered the newest evidence inventory.

Fox correspondent Bill Melugin then supplied the crucial detail: investigators have Omar’s personal passport, not the official passport available through her congressional office for government travel. He attributed the information to colleague David Spunt’s federal sources.

Melugin also reported that DHS and DOJ declined to comment publicly on the investigation. His sources said authorities believe Omar remains in the United States and view flight as something that would create additional legal problems while her husband and other family members remain here.

His reporting said the method used to obtain the DNA remains unclear.

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Sources specifically rejected earlier reports that federal agents collected it by digging through a trash can or dumpster.

That matters because social media had already begun treating the most dramatic version of the collection story as settled fact.

It is not settled.

What is settled is that investigators now possess DNA they consider relevant enough to hold as evidence.

The passport was already part of the search inventory.

The Washington Post reported that agents removed boxes of documents and seized Omar’s cellphone and passport during the search of her residence.

The same report said Omar’s attorneys accused investigators of ignoring restrictions imposed by the magistrate judge who approved the warrant. The Justice Department rejected that accusation and said agents complied with court orders and legal obligations.

The warrant itself remains under seal, which leaves the public without the affidavit explaining precisely what investigators told the court or the complete list of evidence they expected to find.

The Post also reported that a 2019 review examined some of the same questions about Omar’s immigration history and did not find enough evidence to justify a full investigation at that time.

The 2019 decision remains part of the record. Today’s DNA disclosure changes the public evidence picture without proving an offense.

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The DNA report is explosive. The public still has not seen a result.

The New York Post reported that investigators are using DNA alongside government records and information from whistleblowers while examining long-running allegations about Omar’s family and immigration paperwork.

The outlet’s sources said the evidence could help test the allegation that Omar’s 2009 marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi was a sibling marriage intended to assist an immigration benefit. The report said Elmi later sought a marriage-based green card and withdrew the application after immigration officials requested more evidence.

Omar has repeatedly denied that allegation. The Post’s sources also described a wider inquiry into immigration records involving Omar and members of her family, including statements investigators believe may have been made in earlier government filings.

No laboratory result has been released publicly, and no federal charge has been announced.

No court has found that Elmi is Omar’s brother or that she committed immigration fraud.

That is why the word “evidence” cannot be confused with “proof.”

Investigators collect evidence to test claims. Prosecutors still must authenticate it, establish what it shows and connect it to an actual offense before a criminal case can survive.

The grand jury is still collecting evidence.

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The Associated Press independently confirmed that authorities seized Omar’s phone and issued more than a dozen grand-jury subpoenas, including subpoenas to some of her relatives.

The AP said a Minnesota grand jury is gathering evidence while federal authorities examine possible fraud in immigration paperwork. The precise scope of the investigation remains unclear, and the person who described the subpoenas spoke anonymously because the inquiry is ongoing.

D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has said several investigations involving Omar are underway, including a separate review by her office of questions concerning Omar’s financial disclosures. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has publicly pointed to possible issues in the family’s immigration paperwork.

Those matters should not be blurred together. A criminal immigration investigation, a financial-disclosure inquiry and congressional scrutiny are different tracks with different evidence and different legal standards, and none has produced a public conviction against Omar.

The Associated Press separately reported that Omar’s attorneys demanded the immediate return of property seized from her home and called the search unjustified, unlawful and politically motivated.

Her lawyers said there was no legitimate basis to suggest that Omar violated citizenship law. They also accused investigators of disregarding long-standing Justice Department practices intended to avoid overt investigative action involving candidates shortly before an election.

The Justice Department answered that the letter contained false allegations and inaccuracies. A department spokesperson said its lawyers and law-enforcement partners complied with court orders and legal obligations.

Omar’s team also asked prosecutors to preserve audio and video from the search. That dispute could become a major legal fight if prosecutors bring charges, especially because the warrant remains sealed and the defense says legislative materials may be protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

This is a distinct new turn in a fast-moving story.

WLT Report previously covered the initial DNA report and the allegation investigators are trying to test.

The new development is the sharper evidence picture: federal authorities reportedly hold Omar’s personal passport, do not hold her official congressional passport, reject the dumpster account of the DNA collection and do not believe she fled the country.

That combination raises serious questions without answering the biggest one.

What does the DNA actually show?

Until investigators release a result or prosecutors present a case, no one outside the inquiry can honestly say.

But there is no minimizing where the investigation now stands.

A sitting member of Congress has had her home searched.

Her phone and personal passport are in federal hands.

Her relatives have reportedly received grand-jury subpoenas.

And investigators possess DNA they believe belongs inside the evidence file.

The search, seizures and grand-jury activity are documented parts of a real federal inquiry.

It is a federal investigation moving deeper into Omar’s personal and family records — with enormous legal and political consequences if prosecutors can prove the allegations.

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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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