This is an adapted excerpt from the Oct. 18 episode of “Connect with Jacob Soboroff.”

According to a new Fox News poll, government corruption has now edged out inflation as voters’ top concern: 60% say they’re “extremely concerned” about the issue, compared with 58% who say the same about inflation.

America’s worry about government corruption shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been following this administration. And millions of Americans are still struggling to pay for the basics while the scandals keep raining down at our collective expense. At this rate, it feels like we’re seeing a new scandal or two every week.

Case in point: Last week federal agents carried out a raid of Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home at 6 a.m., taking with them boxes marked “Seized Property Evidence.” They also took her phone and passport.

You don’t need an actual conviction; you just need the performance: the raid, the headlines, the harassment of anyone who speaks out.

The search warrant listed potential violations involving immigration fraud, false statements in immigration proceedings, and conspiracy; but it didn’t identify any alleged crimes that appear to relate to Omar’s financial disclosures. Three people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that the investigation centers around claims that Omar or her late father may have lied on decades-old immigration paperwork to secure legal status. Omar became a naturalized citizen in 2000, when she was 17 — nearly three decades ago.

According to U.S. officials and other people familiar with the probe who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, the goal is to build a case to revoke the congresswoman’s citizenship and eventually deport her.

This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has tried to make her citizenship an issue. The Post reports that in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term, immigration officials examined many of these same questions, including Omar’s birth date and her father’s military record in Somalia. At the time, officials found insufficient evidence of wrongdoing to warrant a full investigation.

The Wall Street Journal reported the Biden administration also looked into a similar tip but did not move forward because it lacked evidence.

Former immigration officials say it’s highly unusual for an investigation like this to involve a search warrant, particularly when the government already has the immigration records.

So why raid her home? Like so much else with this administration, the spectacle and the intimidation appear to be the point. Not to mention the fact that we are about three weeks out from an election, and Omar is on the ballot.

On Friday, Omar’s lawyers blasted the raid in a letter to prosecutors, writing, “This vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated criminal investigation into one of the President’s chief congressional critics violates Representative Omar’s constitutional rights and threatens the separation of powers.” They say the search deviated from the specific procedures mandated by the judge who approved the warrant and violated specific restrictions meant to protect Omar’s legislative work.

According to her attorneys, agents were required to give them a copy of the warrant and to contact the House of Representatives’ own lawyers before conducting the search. They say agents did neither. The letter also states that Omar was prevented from contacting her lawyers for more than an hour after the search began.

A Justice Department spokesperson disputed the lawyers’ claim and said the letter was “riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies.”

In a statement on X, Omar said she would “not be silenced.” Adding, “This is just the latest escalation in [Trump’s] campaign of political intimidation.”

This is the authoritarian playbook at work. You don’t need an actual conviction; you just need the performance of the raid, the headlines, the harassment of anyone who speaks out. The investigations and the headlines become a substitute for due process. The spectacle itself sends a message: guilty until proven innocent.

If they can do this to Omar, the administration can do it to anyone. Omar is a sitting member of Congress. She has lawyers, a national platform and constitutional protections for her legislative work. If a sitting lawmaker can have her passport seized over paperwork dating back to her teenage years, what chance does a naturalized nurse in Minneapolis have? Or a cab driver in Chicago?

As The New York Times’ Michelle Goldberg wrote, Trump’s government “is tacitly declaring the citizenship of all foreign-born people provisional.”

And Omar may not be the last; Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles has already asked the Justice Department to review the naturalization documents of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Look at the calendar. The raid on Omar’s home comes just over three weeks before the midterms. Historically, the Justice Department has treated searches involving political candidates and their associates as precisely the kind of step to avoid in the 60 days before an election. Omar’s lawyers say this search violated that policy. The department claims prosecutors cleared it through an internal review.

On the same day as the raid on Omar’s home, Trump mentioned her name at a rally in Ohio while his supporters chanted “deport.” Earlier that day, he claimed he had “nothing to do” with the search.

On the one hand, voters told Fox News their biggest concern is government corruption. On the other, this is an administration that wants you to worry about decades-old paperwork about a teenager’s age.

It appears the Trump White House response to growing concerns about corruption is to engage in more of it.

Allison Detzel contributed.

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