House Oversight Chairman James Comer is demanding the Trump administration make public its evidence against Rep. Ilhan Omar's alleged immigration fraud, and wants lawmakers to decide whether she keeps her seat.
Comer, a Kentucky Republican, went on the Just the News, No Noise television show and laid out a two-front offensive: force transparency on the Omar investigation and hold financier Leon Black in contempt for ducking a congressional subpoena in the Jeffrey Epstein probe. Both moves put the Oversight Committee on a collision course with figures who have, so far, avoided direct accountability.
The Omar matter has been building for days. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson last week that the government has evidence Omar "married her brother to try to bring him to the United States." Mullin said the investigation is "ongoing" and not politically motivated, adding that Omar's ex-husband now lives in London. He noted that lying on an immigration application can result in deportation, with no statute of limitations.
Comer said the administration should stop sitting on its files. He told Just the News:
"I think they should make it public. Absolutely, make it public. The evidence that I've seen would show that they would be privy to a lot more evidence than I would have. Most of the evidence I have is public already, anyway. So I think it should be made public, and I think the members of Congress should be the judge and the jury in this."
He went further, calling for an expulsion vote on the House floor:
"Let us vote as to whether or not she needs to remain in Congress. If you violated the laws to become a citizen, should that make you ineligible to be a member of Congress? I think so. But put it up for a vote in Congress and let the American people see how their member of Congress would vote on that."
Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000 at age 17. She has vehemently denied marrying her brother. No charges have been filed against her, and no formal response from her office to Mullin's or Homan's most recent statements appeared in the reporting.
White House border czar Tom Homan added weight to the matter on Sunday, confirming that federal officials are examining the allegations as part of an "ongoing criminal investigation" being handled by Homeland Security Investigations, the DHS enforcement arm that handles immigration fraud cases.
Homan kept his remarks tight:
"If someone committed an immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they're a congressman or not, no one's above the law. So, I'll leave it at that. We'll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation."
He acknowledged knowing more than he could say publicly. "I know things are going on, but I can't give specifics of what's happening," Homan said.
Mullin, for his part, indicated the probe could end with deportation if investigators turn up "illegal activity." That would be an extraordinary outcome for a sitting member of Congress, but Comer's argument is straightforward: if the underlying citizenship was obtained through fraud, the seat itself rests on a false foundation.
The second front involves Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, a major Wall Street investment firm. The Oversight Committee issued two subpoenas to Black, one compelling him to sit for a deposition, another requiring him to turn over nondisclosure agreements, as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Both subpoenas passed the committee on a bipartisan vote.
Black chose not to show up. Instead, last week he filed a federal lawsuit asking a court to block the subpoenas, arguing they exceed the committee's authority by seeking private information.
Comer was blunt about the next step:
"Look, we've issued a lawful subpoena. It was a bipartisan subpoena. It was voted on by the committee and both parties. This is a person of interest. We are not accusing him of any wrongdoing. Everyone is entitled to due process."
But Comer made clear that due process does not mean ignoring a congressional order. He said the committee has questions "not just for him, but we also have questions about potential non-disclosure agreements that he may have signed with some of these Epstein victims." The chairman added: "He defied a lawful subpoena. So the next step is to hold him in contempt."
Susan Estrich, Black's attorney, pushed back, calling the committee's effort "a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility." No court ruling on Black's lawsuit has been reported.
The Omar and Black matters are unrelated in substance, one involves alleged immigration fraud by a sitting congresswoman, the other a billionaire's refusal to cooperate with an investigation into a notorious sex trafficking operation. But Comer is framing them under the same principle: people in positions of power and privilege do not get to stonewall lawful processes.
In Omar's case, Comer wants the evidence out in the open so voters, and their representatives, can render judgment. In Black's case, he wants the subpoena enforced so the Epstein investigation does not stall behind a wall of lawyers and NDAs.
Several questions remain unanswered. What specific documents does the government allege contained false information? Has HSI formally opened a named investigation, or are Mullin's and Homan's public statements the only confirmation? And will the House Republican majority actually schedule an expulsion vote, which would require a two-thirds supermajority to succeed?
Comer's position is that sunlight settles the debate. Release the evidence. Let Congress vote. Hold the defiant witness in contempt. If the facts are as strong as the administration suggests, there is no reason to keep them locked in a filing cabinet, and no excuse for anyone, elected or otherwise, to treat a lawful subpoena as optional.
Accountability only works when the people demanding it are willing to put the evidence on the table and force a recorded vote. Comer says he is. Now the question is whether anyone else in Washington has the nerve to follow through.
