'Not to My Knowledge': Ilhan Omar's Careful Reply on Whether Ex-Husband Ahmed Nur Said Elmi Is Her Brother — Days After Agents Searched Her DC Home
Ilhan Omar has responded to accusations she married her brother to help him get a green card.
Oct. 22 2026, Published 3:50 p.m. ET
Ilhan Omar has slammed speculation that she was once married to her brother, RadarOnline.com can report.
However, she didn't rule it out entirely. The Minn. Democratic Representative has been the subject of a conspiracy theory that she wed her sibling in a scheme to help him obtain a green card.
Ilhan Omar Speaks Out
The representative called the claims 'insane.'
As Radar previously reported, a top Trump aide claimed last month that Omar allegedly married Ahmed Elmi so he could move to America.
The 44-year-old was asked point-blank about the rumors during an interview with MS Now host Chris Hayes, who asked whether there was any "weird kernel of truth" to the claim. Her response didn't exactly settle things.
"Not to my knowledge," she replied, trying to brush away the suggestion. "Somebody put in there that, you know, he had to have been my brother or something to that effect."
Omar went on to explain that online bloggers "went and found random people who are like, 'She introduced him to us and said he was her brother,' which is insane."
Ilhan Omar Faces Conspiracy Theories
Omar was married to Ahmed Mali for nearly a decade.
However, the rumor mill really started churning when Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last month, "We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States. We know he lives now in London."
Omar and Elmi married in 2009 before divorcing in 2017. Elmi had obtained a conditional marriage-based green card and later withdrew his petition to remove the conditions after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requested additional evidence about the marriage.
Omar, an open and vocal critic of Trump, is now allegedly facing deportation pending a criminal investigation. Mullin claimed the marriage could be considered "illegal activity," and confirmed the department is willing to send her packing if necessary.
"There's no expiration to that. If we can prove it that, maybe you shouldn't have been here in the first place; we'll deport you," Mullin said.
The exact potential crime was not specified, but Mullin seemingly alluded to potentially falsified immigration documents.
Ilhan Omar's Home Raided by Feds
Omar has been the recent subject of federal raids.
Omar previously denied reports that she married her brother.
However, a friend close to the congresswoman claimed Omar was seeking immigration papers for Elmi. In 2020, one former pal of Omar, Abdihakim Osman, told the Daily Mail, "No one knew there had been a wedding until the media turned up the marriage certificate years later."
Earlier this month, Homeland Security agents raided the Washington, D.C. home Omar shares with her husband, Tim Mynett, as part of an investigation into alleged immigration fraud. However, insiders said officials also confiscated some DNA and additional evidence, though it is unclear whether the DNA was obtained before or after the search.
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Ilhan Omar V. the Justice Department
Her attorneys have denied anything illegal.
Omar's attorneys, Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, blasted back, telling the Justice Department that there is "no legitimate basis for any suggestion that she has violated any law concerning her citizenship status," and demanding the immediate return of all seized property.
The legal team noted the search flouted Justice Department policy by occurring close to an election and accused the administration of targeting Omar for her political advocacy.
A Justice Department spokesperson said the letter was "riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies," and that attorneys and law enforcement partners "complied with all court orders and legal obligations."
