Donald Trump’s enemies list is filled with Democratic officials, but there are few figures in public life whom the president attacks with the frequency and enthusiasm that he attacks Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

Throughout much of his second term, Trump has gone after the Minnesota Democrat online and off, at home and abroad, in professional and personal terms. The president’s unhealthy interest in the congresswoman reached the point nearly a year ago that he even started demanding that Omar leave the United States altogether.

But at the heart of his crusade, the Republican has also pushed a separate goal: Trump wants the Minnesotan to be prosecuted for various unspecified crimes.

Earlier this year, the president argued by way of his social media platform that officials should investigate Omar for unspecified “Financial and Political Crimes,” adding that he wanted an investigation to begin “NOW!” (A few days earlier, he similarly wrote that Omar “should be in jail,” though he didn’t say why.)

Less than a week later, Trump declared online that the Justice Department was investigating Omar, and soon after his missive was published, then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused the congresswoman of committing fraud, though she also made no effort to substantiate the allegation with anything resembling evidence.

In June, the president kept going, saying during an unrelated Oval Office event that Omar “should be thrown out of the country” for being “corrupt.”

It was against this backdrop that MS NOW reported:

Federal agents searched the Washington, D.C., home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., on Monday morning as part of a criminal investigation, multiple outlets reported.

Multiple agents wearing Homeland Security Investigations jackets were seen at Omar’s home early Monday, according to Fox News, which first reported the news. The search stems from a criminal fraud investigation into the Somali-born congresswoman’s immigration paperwork, Fox News reported, citing two sources close to the probe.

A spokesperson for the Trump DOJ said in a written statement to MS NOW on Monday morning, “Today in the Washington, D.C, area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.”

In a joint statement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said, “The Trump administration’s raid on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s home is deeply disturbing and raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.

“For years, Donald Trump and far-right extremists have relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Omar with vile personal attacks and baseless accusations. Now, less than 30 days until the midterm election, his violent mass deportation machine has descended upon the home of a duly elected Member of Congress and her family.”

Soon after, Omar added in a statement of her own, published to social media, “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.”

The fact that this is happening three weeks before Election Day, in a cycle in which Omar is running for another term, while early voting is underway in her home state of Minnesota, makes the developments that much more difficult to defend and helps fuel allegations that this is part of a political vendetta against a congresswoman the president has singled out.

But just as notable is the degree to which Omar has a lot of company. Indeed, the Minnesota lawmaker is part of a growing list of Democrats facing Trump administration investigations, which also includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff of California, Sen. Ellisa Slotkin of Michigan, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

Earlier this year, the president denied having weaponized the criminal justice system, suggesting instead that he simply directs the DOJ, which he controls, to prosecute members of his enemies list — preferably quickly — without regard for evidence or legal merits, to quench his thirst for petty political retribution. That he was effectively confessing to weaponizing the DOJ appeared lost on him.

The routinization of these abuses and the corruption of the DOJ don’t make the severity of the circumstances any less scandalous.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

The post Ilhan Omar joins a crowded list of Democrats facing investigations launched by Team Trump appeared first on MS NOW.

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From MS Now.