Deleted tweet by US Rep. Ilhan Omar reignites debate over marriage allegations

A deleted tweet by US Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar referencing her father's name has reignited debate over longstanding allegations that she married her brother, coinciding with ongoing federal investigations into her identity records and immigration to the United States.

According to the New York Post, Ilhan Omar posted on social media in June 2013: "Happy Father’s Day to my dad, Nur Said. I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father." The newspaper reported that the post was deleted on September 19, 2019, as shown by the web archiving site Web Archive.

The New York Post also noted that other records, including a memorial post by the Congressional Black Caucus in 2020, refer to Omar’s late father as "Nur Omar Mohamed." The name mentioned in the deleted tweet closely matches that of her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.

The allegations date back to Omar’s marriage to Elmi in 2009, with a longstanding claim that he was her brother and that the marriage was intended to help him obtain permanent residency in the US. Omar has repeatedly denied these accusations, and the report did not provide evidence of a sibling relationship between them.

The controversy resurfaced after federal agents raided Omar’s home in Washington, D.C., on October 12 as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into possible false statements in immigration and naturalization documents.

In a related development, a memorandum submitted last week by the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, as part of efforts to block the release of the search warrant for Omar’s home, referred to her as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi," also known as "Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." However, the document did not clarify why the name was used in this form, nor did it prove that Omar used a false identity. Omar has maintained that her real name is "Ilhan Abdullahi Omar," not "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi."

The newspaper, citing two sources familiar with the investigation, reported that the name in the memorandum may be Omar’s legal name, though her office disputed this characterization. In response to the allegations, a spokesperson for Omar told Fox News Digital that the claims are a "baseless and disgusting conspiracy theory," adding that the tweet was deleted after Omar and her family received threats.

Omar has repeatedly denied that her former husband was her brother. In a recent interview with MS NOW, she called the allegations "insane," and when asked if there was any truth to them, she replied, "Not to my knowledge."

Ilhan Omar arrived in the United States as a refugee from Somalia in 1995. She divorced Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2017 and legally married Ahmed Hirsi in 2018.