Ilhan Omar Investigation Explained: Why Her Home Was Searched | Is Katie Zacharia Actually a Lawyer? Did James Talarico Check Into a Facility?

Jordan Berman (0:00)

I have to tell you guys about my newest Cozy Earth obsession, because I feel like once I put this set on, I just never want to take it off. I never do take it off, and I'm also just the type of person that when I do get a new set, I will wear it for weeks on end, and if it's especially comfy, like the Cozy Earth Cityscape set that I just got, I will live in it. The first thing that I noticed when I put the set on was how incredibly soft and smooth it feels. There's nothing stiff or scratchy about it, which honestly isn't really that surprising, because I feel like everything Cozy Earth makes is just so comfortable. But what I love is that even though it's really, really comfortable, it doesn't make me feel like I'm overheating. Do you know what I mean? I have a couple of sets like that, ones that I love, but I can only wear them when it's cold out, otherwise I'll be sweating all day. The Cityscape set isn't that. It's something you can wear all the time. If you've never tried Cozy Earth before, now is the time. I promise you won't regret it. Head to cozyearth.com and treat yourself to your own Cityscape set. And this part matters. After you place your order, you'll see this quick survey asking how you heard about Cozy Earth. Please let them know you heard it here on UNBIASED Politics. That is how they know I sent you, so don't skip it. Welcome back to UNBIASED Politics. It's Thursday, October 15th. And today we're talking about the investigation into Ilhan Omar, the claims about James Talarico entering a mental health facility, the new press secretary, and whether she's actually an attorney and more. As always, if you love today's show or find it valuable in any way, please share it with a friend. Leave me a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you're watching on YouTube, just like this video and click that subscribe button. I know those things may not feel like they do a lot, but they do. Sharing with a friend helps spread the word and hopefully helps grow the show. Reviews help with SEO and help other people find the show. And then of course, the more engagement I have on YouTube, the more YouTube will push the show to other people. So thank you in advance. I really appreciate your help. Now, today's episode might end up being just a little shorter than usual, but that's only because I did decide to leave out the Cornell updates. I'm not including them in today's episode. I'm instead going to be releasing another episode. I think it'll either be tomorrow night or Saturday morning, and that episode will specifically be dedicated to Cornell updates. So let's start today's episode with the first story, which is this federal investigation into Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. In Quick Hitters on Monday, we briefly talked about the fact that federal agents searched her DC home pursuant to a warrant, stemming from what the DOJ called an ongoing federal criminal investigation. But that was really all we knew. Since then, we've learned a bit more about both the search and the investigation. So let's get into it. First, a little background per usual. Omar was born in Somalia. She came to the United States with her family as a refugee in 1995

Her official Congressional biography lists her birthday as October 4th, 1982 And it says that she became a US citizen in the year 2000 at the age of 17 through her dad, who had become a naturalized citizen himself. Well, her age is what is at the center of this investigation. So under the citizenship law at the time, a child born outside of the United States could, in certain circumstances, automatically derive US citizenship when a parent became a citizen. But the child had to satisfy the requirements before turning 18

Now, as an aside, sort of, Omar's mom died when she was little, so the relevant parent here is or was her father. Now, for years, the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, so the state legislature's official research library, which keeps biographical records on Minnesota lawmakers, listed Omar's birth year as 1981, not 1982

But in May 2019, after Omar had been elected to Congress, her congressional staff asked the library to change her birth year to 1982

At the same time, her staff was also working on correcting the year on both Wikipedia and the US House's biographical records. So the theory that investigators are looking into is that the 1982 date might have been used on Omar's immigration paperwork to make her appear still under the age of 18 when her father became a US citizen, because that could have allowed her to obtain citizenship through her father, even though she may have actually been born in 1981 That's what investigators are looking into.