Lawyer says prosecutors charged Rep. Ilhan Omar's ex-bodyguard to make him an informant
The Justice Department says the case was "completely unrelated to any current investigations" and dropped the charge in September.
Federal prosecutors filed a charge against Abdullahi Mohamed, who briefly served as a bodyguard for Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat. His lawyer, Bruce Rivers, told The New York Times the charge was a gambit to get incriminating information about her. Rivers says prosecutors spent months trying to turn Mohamed into an informant.
He says they repeatedly told him the Omar investigation was "100 percent being run by 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.," the White House address. The charge alleged that Mohamed lied to a government official under oath, based on statements from a interview. Rivers says prosecutors offered to help keep Mohamed from being if he gave damaging information, and asked about a possible $10,000 payment.
The Daily Mail reports Mohamed was later placed in deportation proceedings and left for Kenya. The dropped the charges in September. It said the case was "completely unrelated to any current investigations."
Omar has long denied wrongdoing, and her spokesperson says she never directly employed Mohamed. The White House has not publicly confirmed the lawyer's claims, according to the Daily Mail. Federal agents have searched Omar's Washington home, and she has since won re-election.
- $10,000possible payment prosecutors asked Mohamed about, per his lawyerDaily Mail
- 60-point marginOmar's re-election win, per MS NOWMS NOW
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Liberal3 outlets
A Justice Department targeting Omar for the president
MS NOW opens with Trump's closing push against Omar, saying he falsely told voters her seat had been conceded, and treats the bodyguard charge as the latest sign of a campaign against her. It relays the Times report and Rivers's account, and says the Justice Department's denial is hard to accept without "some skepticism." It also quotes White House counsel Will Scharf on investigations not being driven by "animus, pettiness [or] hatred."
The New Republic says the department went after the former bodyguard to "dig up dirt" on a Trump critic. It calls the wider probe a "racist campaign" and describes the allegations about Omar's marriage as "baseless." It adds that Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested a RICO case.
The New York Times headline says the bodyguard "Was in a Bid to Incriminate Ilhan Omar," and says prosecutors used statements from a green card interview to pressure him, his lawyer said. MS NOW and The New Republic both include the department's "completely unrelated" statement.
Center0 outlets
Outlets on this side gave the story little coverage.
Conservative2 outlets
The lawyer's detailed account of prosecutors' pressure
The Daily Mail headline says the ex-bodyguard was "grilled" over a suspected $10,000 bribe and told the probe is "100 percent" run by the White House. Its first line says prosecutors "allegedly" tried to recruit him as an informant. It follows Mohamed's case step by step: the green card interview, a February letter, a March meeting, an April indictment and the September dismissal.
It quotes Rivers calling the March meeting a "fishing expedition." It reports that investigators allegedly described the payment as a possible bribe. It also says the probe has focused in part on Omar's 2009 marriage, and that Trump called her "one of the ringleaders" in March.
It includes Omar's spokesperson, who condemned the alleged effort to recruit Mohamed, and the Justice Department's "completely unrelated" statement. The Daily Mail notes the White House has not publicly confirmed the lawyer's claims and that it asked the department and the White House for comment.
- Conservative outlets did not mentionHomeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested last month that a RICO case was being built against Omar and her family Reported by The New Republic
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All sources: 5 articles from 5 outlets
Liberal (3)
- MS NOW: Trump’s Justice Department accused of targeting Ilhan Omar by charging her bodyguard
- The New Republic: DOJ Tried to Go After Ilhan Omar by Indicting Her Bodyguard
Conservative (2)
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