Democrats have rushed to defend left-wing “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar following a federal investigation and a Department of Homeland Security raid on her Washington, D.C., home last week.
However, critics argue that their attacks on President Donald Trump over the investigation are deeply hypocritical, considering the Biden administration’s investigations into Trump, both as the 45th and 47th president, and the indictments that followed.
Among the most outspoken critics is former President Barack Obama, who launched a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration on Sunday over the federal investigation into Omar’s immigration history. Obama accused the government of unfairly targeting one of Trump’s most vocal political opponents.
Obama released a lengthy statement after federal agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., residence as part of an investigation into allegations that she or members of her family may have provided false information during the immigration and naturalization process decades ago.
“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals” because of their political beliefs, Obama wrote, accusing the administration of violating that principle in its handling of Omar’s case.
The former president called the investigation “appalling” and suggested that the administration was seeking evidence that could be used to challenge Omar’s citizenship and potentially lead to her removal from the United States.
Obama also addressed questions surrounding Omar’s age and her father’s naturalization in 2000, an issue reportedly central to the federal investigation.
According to Obama, Omar arrived in the United States with her family as a Somali refugee at age 12. She was 17 when her father became a naturalized citizen, Obama noted, arguing that she was eligible to derive citizenship through him.