WASHINGTON — The raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s D.C. home this week may be one of the best things that has happened lately to Minnesota Democrats.
The midterm elections are seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump, and the raid is a reminder of how the president uses his authority to attack Minnesotans.
“The impact of this raid is not necessarily helpful to Republicans,” said Steven Schier, a political science professor emeritus at Carleton College. “Donald Trump is not popular in the state, and the raid may further boost Democratic turnout in response.”
Minnesota’s Democrats were quick to fan the flames.
“Trump and his DOJ have a bizarre obsession with tearing down Minnesota, our leaders and our communities,” said Sen. Tina Smith. “This latest action, even as voting has already started in Minnesota, is a transparent attempt to interfere in our elections.”
Meanwhile, even as the highly publicized raid was carried out just three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, it isn’t likely to damage Omar’s chances of keeping her seat. Her Minneapolis-based district is one of the “bluest” in the nation.
Details are coming out about what the Department of Homeland Security was looking for in Omar’s home.
The Washington Post reported that the agency is searching for proof that Omar’s late father may have lied on immigration paperwork filled out decades ago when the family emigrated from a refugee camp in Kenya to the United States.
The newspaper said agents are “especially focused” on whether Omar or her father, Nur Omar Mohamed, intentionally misstated her birth date on immigration paperwork so she could be eligible to derive citizenship through him as a minor when he was naturalized in 2000.
Omar’s father died in 2020.
But the newspaper also reported that some members of Omar’s family this week received grand jury subpoenas tied to the investigation and that investigators are scrutinizing whether Omar’s father may have purposefully lied or omitted information on his past military service when he sought legal status in the United States.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press said Omar’s phone was seized in the raid.
Omar said the investigation was a continuation of “baseless lies and smear campaigns” against the outspoken progressive Democrat.
If Omar’s citizenship was fraudulently obtained, there could be a move to revoke her citizenship and she could be deported.
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told Fox News her office had launched a separate inquiry into Omar’s financial disclosure forms. Trump accused Omar of fraud after she reported that the values of companies her husband had interest in had increased sharply.
Omar said the valuations were made in error by an accountant who filed out the financial disclosure forms and a House ethics panel declined to investigate the matter further.
A pink slip for Hegseth?
Rumors resurfaced this week that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is skating on thin ice following his decision to allow a public execution of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009.
The decision to livestream the execution by firing squad, which President Trump subsequently called off, drew public outrage.
Eight in 10 Americans opposed the plan, according to a poll released this week by The Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos.
Leading Republicans also condemned it.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters: “I’m not going to be watching it.”
And House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told CBS News this week that a public execution of Hasan “would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists.”
“We got to think through the policy implications of all that,” Johnson said.
Because of the blowback, Trump announced Thursday on Truth Social that he was canceling the livestream because “many very good and well-meaning people would rather not watch him die.”
But the major reason Hegseth, a Minnesota native, may get a pink slip is the unpopularity of the war he is prosecuting in Iran — which he initially said would be of extremely short duration.
If Democrats succeed in wresting control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in this fall’s election, the war, which helped drive up inflation, will be one of the reasons.
And Trump is likely to need a scapegoat if the election is the disaster that is being forecast for the GOP.
There are also signs of mismanagement and chaos at the Pentagon, with shortfalls in munitions and the retirement and resignation of senior military and civilian officials who prefer to leave the military rather than continue to work with Hegseth.
And the road is only going to get bumpier for Hegseth.
Lawmakers from both parties have introduced impeachment resolutions of Hegseth and Democrats have promised a flood of public hearings and investigations should they retake the House.
In other news:
▪️Greater Minnesota reporter Brian Arola wrote about three legislative races in the St. Cloud area that are highly competitive — and awash with outside money.
▪️Cleo Krejci reported that Minnesota State’s Board of Trustees approved the transfer of up to $25 million each year for four years to struggling universities. The money would come primarily from two-year community and technical colleges.
▪️Brian Martucci covered Secretary of State Steve Simon’s appearance at the MinnPost Festival, where the election official described the preparations underway to ensure a fair and accessible election in November.
▪️Also from the the festival, Matt Blake filed a report on his interview with Joe Thompson, the former acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota. One takeaway: Thompson confirms that he resigned over how the Trump administration wanted him to investigate Renee Good’s killing at the hands of an ICE agent.
▪️And Metro reporter Trevor Mitchell covered a unique debate between the candidates for Hennepin county attorney, state Rep. Cedrick Frazier and Anders Folk, that included improv performers. But it wasn’t all fun and games.
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. I can be reached at aradelat@minnpost.com.
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