‘Right-Wing’ ‘Conspiracies’; MS NOW Seethes Over ‘Intrusive Search’ at Ilhan Omar’s Home

MS NOW was almost inconsolable on Monday morning as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — a division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — conducted a Columbus Day raid on far-left, Somali-born Congressman Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a massive escalation following years of reports of alleged behavior that made a mockery of our immigration system.

MS NOW analysts and liberal journalists admitted there needed to be caution in jumping to conclusions, but they did so anyway in bemoaning the “very, very intrusive search” of this “critic of President Trump,” who’s been “demonized” for being Somali and the subject of “conspiracies” and “long-standing controversy...simmering in right-wing media and conservative circles.”

Sadly, Stephanie Ruhle was off, so Erielle Reshef filled in on Money, Power, Politics and opened the first hour with the solemn news about the Omar raid. Going first to far-left crank Susan Glasser of The New Yorker, Reshef had to emphasize “Omar, of course, has been a prominent critic of Donald Trump,” so she’s naturally been subjected to “a criminal investigation.”

This dismissal of any possibility she did anything wrong was a constant theme throughout their coverage.

Glasser did throw in the qualifier that “we’ll have to wait and see more information as it emerges,” but promptly did the opposite by casting aspersions. Glasser whined: “Trump has consistently demonized both Omar and the community of Somali immigrants in which she comes from.”

“[T]his is not going to be that big of a surprise to people that Trump’s using the machinery of government to go after opponents. This has happened in a very, very concerted way. But again, we’ll have to see more information. The fact that it’s happening so close to the election, I think is — is also very notable,” she added, continuing to try and have it both ways.

Deep State tool and MS NOW correspondent Ken Dilanian was next up, passing along he himself had little to share other than confirmation there was an HSI raid. Dilanian cited Fox News that the raid “stems from a question about paperwork filled out — immigration paperwork filled out by her father when she was a child.”

Going into partisan overdrive, he dismissed this probe by saying “there’s been a long-standing controversy, mostly in right-wing circles, about Ilhan Omar’s immigration provenance and whether she’s in the country legally, whether the steps she took when she arrived here as a refugee, as a child, whether all the paperwork was proper.”

He doubled down: “That’s been simmering in right-wing media and conservative circles for years. But it appears that somehow the Department of Justice has secured a warrant to conduct this search.”

Moments later, he seemed to have implied whatever warrant that received approval to carry out the raid lacked merit (click “expand”):

That’s a big step that requires a judge to — to — to determine that there’s probable cause, to believe that there’s evidence of a crime at this location, which would be her home in the D.C. area. It doesn’t mean that it’s definitive, but it means that there was enough that they showed a judge. I mean, we saw in the past when the Justice Department secured a warrant for the FBI to go and seize ballots in Fulton County. When we look at the affidavit for the search warrant, we saw that it was based largely on debunked conspiracy theories.

We will not see this affidavit for some time. Likely, it’s been — it’s under seal. That’s the standard procedure for these kinds of things. So we don’t know exactly what this is based on, what facts they have, but — but that’s what we’re being told by officials that it’s related to an immigration-related investigation into her status in the country, guys.

Bloomberg’s Jeff Mason was up third and was asked by Reshef to “remind us of the history between Ilhan Omar and President Trump and the larger Republican Party.”

Mason did what was asked of him as an MS NOW guest, complaining “it’s not an uplifting history” as Trump “has often disparaged her and disparaged her representation from Minnesota, and I think that gives me an opportunity to mention again, like Ken was just talking about immigration and paperwork, going back to when she was a child, that — that has stirred up conspiracies in right-wing circles.”

Weighing in last, Inside Election’s Jacob Rabashkin expressed hope the Omar raid could “be a rallying point for Democrats” in the Gopher State, particularly for Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan to regain momentum (omitting, of course, mention of her Republican opponent, Michele Tafoya) (click “expand”):

RESEHF: As we talk, Jacob, about getting closer and closer to the midterms, I’m curious to know from you, you know, we have seen the Trump administration be pretty open about going after perceived adversaries. Ilhan Omar may be the next one. How does this play out with the electorate right now?

RUBASHKIN: Well, it’s an excellent question, and I actually was just in Ilhan Omar’s district for the last couple of days in Minneapolis, and look, I think there’s still a lot that remains to be seen. We’re in a breaking news situation, and I think it’s probably inappropriate to speculate too far ahead, but I do think that there’s a potential, certainly in Minnesota, for this to be a rallying point for Democrats who, at least in that Senate race, have been a little bit on their back feet ever since the fraud scandal first came to national prominence earlier this year. Look, I think there’s a real possibility that this could be a moment for Democrats to get their act together in Minnesota and rally behind their nominee for Senate, Peggy Flanagan, their nominee for governor, Amy Klobuchar. Of course, if this investigation proceeds and something truly damning comes out, it could have the opposite effect here. By and large, though, I don’t really think voters are looking at, you know, 20-year-old or 30-year-old immigration paperwork as the defining issue of this midterm in Minnesota or elsewhere.

The show’s second hour largely avoided the Omar raid, except for another live report from Dilanian.

This time, he complained the DHS-led raid of Ilhan Omar’s home was “a very, very intrusive search” of her “personal property.”

“Omar is a long-standing opponent of President Trump, has been targeted on the right for a long period of time. She’s a sitting member of Congress with certain privileges around the Speech and Debate Clause,” he griped.

To see the relevant MS NOW transcript from October 12, click here.