Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is disputing claims that her legal name is not “Ilhan Omar” after a federal court filing from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia referred to her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.”
The filing, signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, concerns applications to unseal materials tied to a federal search warrant executed at Omar’s personal residence in Washington, D.C. It describes the applications as related to “Congresswoman Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
President Donald Trump amplified the matter in a Truth Social post, writing that Omar’s name is “not Ilhan Omar, the one she used to get elected and sworn into Congress, but rather, it’s an entirely different name, Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.” Trump also noted that the name matches that of her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, whom some have long alleged is actually her brother.
“When asked whether or not she married her brother, she said, ‘Not to my knowledge.’ In other words, she somehow didn’t know?” Trump wrote.
That line referenced an earlier interview on MS NOW’s “All In,” in which host Chris Hayes asked Omar whether she was related “at all” to her ex-husband and whether there was a “weird kernel of truth” to the long-circulating claims. Omar answered, “not to my knowledge.”
Omar responded to the renewed scrutiny in a post on X, rejecting the allegations outright.
“The pedophile protection party’s president is laundering right-wing conspiracy theories through the most corrupt DOJ in American history. Whenever the news turns bad, this creep reaches for one name: mine. So let’s make it crystal clear. My name has always been Ilhan Omar.”
She added, “Maybe you should focus on what your VP’s real name is.”
The allegations that Said Elmi is Omar’s brother rather than her former husband have circulated for nearly a decade and have never been proven. Critics have suggested the marriage may have been used to help Said Elmi obtain U.S. immigration status, but no evidence has been presented to confirm that theory.
