Fact Check: Did Ilhan Omar funnel millions from illicit operations into overseas bank accounts?
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid the controversies following a federal raid at Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s home over an alleged immigration fraud, an allegation began circulating online claiming that Omar has funneled millions of dollars from illicit operations to overseas bank accounts.
The claim has triggered speculation and calls for a fact check.
Claim: Ilhan Omar funneled millions from illicit operations
According to a viral post that appeared on X, the Minnesota Democrat has funneled millions of dollars in campaign contributions as well as money gained from illicit operations to overseas bank accounts. According to the sources, the same sources say $5M left through crypto transactions.
The post has garnered thousands of views and has been shared by various other accounts, with many slamming Omar, indicating that they believe the claim. Meanwhile, a few others expressed skepticism and questioned the authenticity of the viral rumor, prompting a verification.
Fact Check: No credible evidence to support the claim
However, the claim is false, as there are no reports that suggest Omar funneled millions of dollars from illicit operations to overseas bank accounts and crypto transactions.
There are no official statements, announcements, press conferences, or social media posts from the Department of Homeland Security that support the claim.
If the allegations were true, it would not go unreported by prominent news media outlets and would have even made headlines, but a search on Google for the claim yielded no credible results, except for the social media posts sharing the claim.
Moreover, the claim originated from an X account called ‘iSource News,’ which, though not explicitly a parody account, has posted several such fake and exaggerated claims for the sake of engagement.
Federal raid at Ilhan Omar's Washington home
The claim appeared after a federal raid at Omar’s home in Washington, DC, by agents from Homeland Security Investigations over longstanding immigration fraud allegations that Omar has denied.
The Somalia-born Democrat slammed the raid in a statement on her congressional webpage, calling it "an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies."
Hours later, Omar took to her X account, writing, “I'm OK. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”
