Federal investigators questioned a former bodyguard for Rep. Ilhan Omar about a $10,000 payment and her marital history, revealing new details about the criminal investigation into the Minnesota Democrat, according to The New York Times.
The questioning extended beyond Omar’s immigration records to her financial dealings, according to the account provided by the bodyguard’s attorney, Bruce Rivers.
Rivers said investigators asked his client, Abdullahi Mohamed, about a payment involving Omar and Mohamed’s brother that investigators described as a possible bribe. The court records reviewed by the Times did not explain the suspected transaction or the government’s theory, and officials declined to discuss it.
The disclosure comes after federal agents searched Omar’s Washington home last month and issued subpoenas requiring several people close to her to testify before a grand jury.
Prosecutors are examining her family’s immigration history, including whether her 2009 marriage was arranged to help a man suspected of being her brother obtain a green card, the Times reported.
Omar, who won a fifth term last week, has denied wrongdoing and accused President Donald Trump’s administration of political persecution.
Mohamed became a focus of investigators after an October 2025 green card interview. A citizen of Somalia and Britain, he was seeking permanent residency after marrying an American citizen in Minnesota.
During the interview, an immigration official asked whether he had worked for the Somali government while in the United States and whether he had “any interactions with any government officials or politicians in the United States,” Rivers said.
Mohamed answered no to both questions. He had, however, briefly served on Omar’s security detail during an overseas trip and visited her Capitol Hill office.
Rivers said Mohamed has limited English proficiency and did not understand the questions.
His green card petition was denied. In February, he received notice that the Justice Department was investigating him for allegedly lying under oath to a government official, an offense punishable by up to five years in prison. Prosecutors subsequently filed a felony charge.
Court records showed that the case was assigned to two senior prosecutors in Minnesota: the criminal division chief and the head of the fraud and public corruption section.
At a March meeting with prosecutors, investigators focused their questions on Omar, according to Rivers, who attended.
POLL: Should Ilhan Omar Be Deported If Found Guilty Of Immigration Fraud?
They asked about the congresswoman’s immigration history, her marriages and the $10,000 payment involving Mohamed’s brother, Rivers said.
The attorney said investigators offered to help prevent Mohamed’s deportation if he provided damaging information about Omar. Two people familiar with the case separately told the Times that federal officials viewed his green card application as an opening to obtain evidence against her.
The Justice Department dropped Mohamed’s charge in September. Officials declined to answer detailed questions about his case, saying in an emailed statement that it was “completely unrelated to any current investigations.”
Trump has publicly called for investigators to examine Omar.
During a March Oval Office event introducing an anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance, Trump said he hoped Omar would be investigated, calling her “one of the ringleaders.”
Vance later said he had discussed how to hold Omar accountable for immigration fraud with Stephen Miller, the White House aide promoted to chief of staff last week.
Rivers alleged that prosecutors repeatedly told him and Mohamed that the investigation was “100 percent being run by 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” the White House address.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my almost 28 years practicing law in federal court,” Rivers told the Times.
Mohamed declined to discuss the case when reached by the newspaper in Nairobi, Kenya, saying he planned to speak when the “time is right.”
