A deleted 2013 social media post in which Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., appeared to refer to her father by a different name has resurfaced as federal investigators examine questions surrounding her identity and immigration records.
“Happy Father’s Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father …,” Omar wrote in the June 2013 post, which was deleted in 2019.
Several records, including a memorial post by the Congressional Black Caucus marking his death in 2020, refer to Omar’s father as “Nur Omar Mohamed.” But the now-deleted X post has Omar calling him “Nur Said,” a name that also appears similar to the name of her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
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The congresswoman deleted the social media post the morning of Sept. 19, 2019.
An archived version of the post, first reported on by the Daily Caller in 2019, resurfaced after federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., residence on Oct. 12 as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into possible false statements on immigration and naturalization documents. Omar and her office have repeatedly denied allegations that her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is her brother.
She has also denied wrongdoing amid the federal probe, which she has called a political attack.
Somali names generally consist of a person’s given name, their father’s given name and their paternal grandfather’s given name. The similarity between names alone does not establish a familial relationship.
A statement allegedly attributed to Omar’s spokesperson and recirculated online said “Nur Said” was her father’s childhood nickname and that he maintained a public page using the name. The statement also said the tweet was deleted because Omar and her family had received threats.
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Omar’s office did not respond Friday to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the now-deleted social media post.
Omar’s father is referred to as “Nur Said” in some reports. For example, a New York Post story on his alleged military experience quoted Oxford University historian Mohamed Haji Ingiriis as calling Omar’s father “Nur Said.”
Fox News has not independently verified that Omar’s father’s name is Nur Said Elmi Mohamed, his alleged name, not Nur Omar Mohamed.
In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, a spokesperson for the congresswoman said Omar has “repeatedly and unequivocally denied” the “baseless, disgusting conspiracy theory” that she married her brother.
The spokesperson pointed to Omar’s interview Wednesday on MS NOW, in which she was asked whether her one-time husband may have been a “distant relative.”
“Not to my knowledge,” Omar replied.
Recent court documents related to the search warrant for Omar’s Washington, D.C. residence, first obtained by Fox News Digital, connected to the federal investigation identify Omar as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a.k.a. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” The filing does not explain why the name appears in the document or establish that Omar used a false identity.
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Omar told Fox News Digital on Friday that her “real name” is “Ilhan Abdullahi Omar” and not “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.”
“Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, you know it,” Omar told Fox News Digital when asked about her name. “It’s Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
Omar’s marriage to Elmi ended in divorce in 2017. She later legally married Ahmed Hirsi in 2018.
Two people familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi” may be Omar’s legal name. Omar’s office has disputed that characterization.
A former Minnesota federal immigration judge told Fox News Digital that if investigators prove Omar knowingly used a false name on federal forms, the conduct could be brought into question under the federal false-statements statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Whether the statute applies would depend on the specific documents, the materiality of any alleged misstatement and the evidence of intent.
The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.