Networks Are Still Seething Over Ilhan Omar Raid, Cast Doubt on Its Merits

On their flagship morning newscasts, ABC fixed on Tuesday a major issue (party ID) that befell their Monday night coverage of the federal raid on far-left Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) D.C. home, but was joined by CBS and NBC in continuing to express disgust at the idea Omar would be raided for anything other than political retribution by the Trump administration.

CBS Mornings, like its evening counterpart, still refused to explicitly state that Ilhan Omar is a Democrat. In addition, it still minimized the possibility that she did anything criminal.

Here was the setup from featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers:

Sticking with politics now, Democrats say it was politics that played a role in a raid on a congresswoman’s home in Washington. Sources tell CBS News it was tied to a federal investigation into how Ilhan Omar and her family came to the U.S. decades ago. Nicole Sganga has more on the raid that Omar called “political intimidation” by the Trump administration.

Homeland Security correspondent Nicole Sganga also implied the raid was a show, since she led with “Trump calling out Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar after Homeland Security investigators seized boxes of evidence from her Washington, D.C. home Monday” even though “sources tell CBS News the raid was part of a years-long probe involving immigration paperwork completed by her late father when she was a child.”

She further fretted (click “expand”):

SGANGA: Trump has repeatedly attacked the Democratic lawmaker and questioned her citizenship...Omar, a U.S. citizen and first Somali-American in Congress, called the search “an attempt to target political enemies,” adding, “I will not be silenced.” And Democratic leaders said it raises questions about, “continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.” Trump told reporters he’s not involved in the investigation, but Attorney General Todd Blanche was aware of the search, according to sources, and the timing is noteworthy. Omar’s up for reelection in just three weeks. Typically, the Justice Department doesn’t pursue members of Congress who are candidates within 60 days of an election.

TOM DUPREE: Historically, the Justice Department will basically put these things on pause. They’ll put them on hold as the election approaches because they don’t want to be seen as possibly interfering with an upcoming election.

ABC’s Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos implied it had no actual judicial merit in a tease: “Three weeks until the final votes. President Trump tries to save a Senate seat in a state he won three times, attacking immigrant and Muslim candidates, hours after federal agents searched the home of Representative Ilhan Omar.”

Because apparently ABC is fine with his amateurish politicking and snide asides, co-host and former NFL player Michael Strahan also tied the Omar raid to Monday’s Trump rally in Ohio: “The President attacked Representative Ilhan Omar from the stump hours after federal agents searched her home in a pre-dawn raid. The Minnesota congresswoman is calling it an act of political intimidation.”

D.C.-based correspondent Jay O’Brien continued on that theme, noting “Omar is a longtime political foe of President Trump’s, and there are mounting questions this morning about why the DOJ broke with its tradition and executed that search on her home so close to Election Day.” 

O’Brien fretted “the extraordinary search” was carried out at the home of “someone President Trump has attacked for years” and demanded on Truth Social “just months ago” be investigated and jailed.

Like those at CBS and NBC, ABC’s O’Brien also noted the Justice Department has had “a long-standing, unwritten rule avoiding taking public steps in politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election,” and parroted the condemnations from the “progressive Democrat” and her allies (click “expand”):

O’BRIEN: The DOJ has a long-standing, unwritten rule avoiding taking public steps in politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election. But three weeks from the midterms, Homeland Security agents executed a search warrant authorized by a judge at Omar’s Washington, D.C., area home Monday. Federal investigators were here since the early hours of the morning, parking a long line of police cars and evidence van, pulling boxes out of the congresswoman’s home.

FORMER DEPUTY AG DONALD AYER: You really have to wonder, why would they do this now? If they want to investigate it, why didn’t they do it two months ago? Why didn’t they do it six months ago? Or why don’t they wait until after the election? But here we are, right before the election, and they’re conducting a search.

O’BRIEN: The Department of Justice saying the search is tied to an ongoing criminal investigation. Sources tell ABC News the investigation relates to Omar’s immigration paperwork. The progressive Democrat came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee in 1995. She became a citizen in 2000 at age 17. In a statement, Omar calling it all “political intimidation” and “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” adding, “I will not be silenced.” Fellow Democrats also rallying to Omar’s side this morning. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders in the House calling the search a “weaponization of the federal government against the President’s political adversaries[.]”

While it remained the lone network to mention the basic fact of Omar’s party affiliation on both newscasts, NBC’s Today had a far worse and whiny report than the more substance-based Nightly News missive.

“The Justice Department saying it is part of an ongoing criminal investigation, but Omar and her supporters are accusing the Trump administration of a blatant abuse of power ahead of the midterm elections,” said co-host Craig Melvin.

Longtime correspondent Kelly O’Donnell dismissed outright the raid’s legitimacy because “[t]his is about timing and the intersection of this political season and the Trump administration’s use of its power” versus “a progressive Democratic congresswoman, who has been both a critic of the President and also a frequent target of President Trump’s fury.”

The report from the Briefing Room Karen continued by framing it entirely around past comments Trump (and Vice President JD Vance) have made about Omar, with only lip service to the consideration she may have broken the law (click “expand”):

O’DONNELL: This morning, new fallout over Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar. President Trump lashing out at the progressive Democrat in Ohio, hours after Homeland Security agents executed a search warrant at Omar’s Washington, D.C., home. The Justice Department calling it part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.

TRUMP: And that Ilhan, someone was asking me, I don’t know what they’re doing with her, but I can tell you this, she’s a disaster.

O’DONNELL: Omar’s supporters gathering in Minnesota to defend the four-term congresswoman and to accuse the administration of abusing its power.

OMAR SUPPORTER: And what they have done today to Ilhan Omar is violent, authoritarian attack on a leader.

O’DONNELL: A source familiar with the investigation said this probe has been underway for a period of years, examining potential immigration fraud. The search warrant remains under seal, and no charges have been filed.

TRUMP: I think she’s a terrible person, but that’s really up to the DOJ.

O’DONNELL: Omar was born in Somalia and became a U.S. citizen at 17. In March, Vice President Vance accused the congresswoman of fraud.

VANCE [on The Benny Show, 03/28/26]: We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.

O’DONNELL: Her office said the congresswoman has done nothing wrong. Omar posting: “make no mistake: This is an attempt to target political enemies,” adding, “I will not be silenced.” For years, tensions have flared publicly between the President and the congresswoman.

TRUMP [on 05/01/26]: Ilhan Omar — [CROWD BOOS] — you ever hear of her?

OMAR [on 12/03/25]: What is weird to me just how creepy he’s been obsessed with me and the Somali community.

O’DONNELL: The Department of Justice has had a policy, not a formal rule, to avoid what it calls overt acts or investigative steps against a candidate within 60 days of an election, and doing so has required layers of approval. Congresswoman Omar is on the ballot for re-election in 21 days. The DOJ has not publicly said that she is the subject of this investigation.

To see the relevant transcripts from October 13, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).