Resurfaced 2013 Deleted Tweet and Somali Claims Intensify Scrutiny of Ilhan Omar Amid DHS Probe

A since-deleted June 2013 tweet from Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s then-Twitter account read, “Happy Father’s Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father,” according to archived versions first noted in 2019 reporting and recirculated this week. Public records and a 2020 congressional memorial refer to her father as Nur Omar Mohamed. The name “Nur Said” also appears in the name of her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.

Somali naming conventions typically combine a given name with the father’s and paternal grandfather’s given names; the similarity alone does not establish a familial relationship. The deleted post has drawn renewed attention amid a Department of Homeland Security investigation into allegations of false statements on immigration and naturalization documents. Agents raided Omar’s Washington, D.C., home on October 12. Omar has denied wrongdoing and described the probe as politically motivated.

Separately, a resurfaced 2024 post by Somaliland politician Ali Hassan Mohamed claims Omar “leaked information” to Somali leaders in December 2022. Omar visited Somalia that month and met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and other officials, according to Voice of America reporting at the time. Mohamed has political reasons to criticize the Somali federal government and its allies; no independent corroboration of the specific leak allegation has been publicly detailed. In a January 2024 Minneapolis speech delivered in Somali, Omar stated that while she is in Congress, “no one will take Somalia’s sea” and that the United States would not support others doing so, according to published translations.

Rep. Randy Fine has said he will introduce a resolution to expel Omar if she is found to have lied on immigration paperwork. Omar’s office has previously rejected marriage-to-brother allegations. The combination of the archived tweet, the DHS raid, and the resurfaced foreign claim has kept the matter in public view as midterms approach.