Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home in a criminal immigration-fraud probe, 22 days before her election.
Homeland Security Investigations agents, the criminal investigative arm of ICE, searched the Minnesota Democrat’s Washington-area home before dawn on Monday, Oct. 12. Sources say the probe centers on immigration papers her late father filled out when she was a child; she became a citizen in 2000, at 17.
The Justice Department said the agents “executed a judicially authorized search warrant” as part of an “ongoing federal criminal investigation.”
October 13, 2026 · Six stories, illustrated
Search warrantThree possible crimes
- 01False statements
- 02Fraud in immigration paperwork
- 03Conspiracy
Neither the warrant nor the department has said what Omar herself is accused of doing. Sources say the probe centers on immigration papers her late father filled out when she was a child.
before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 midterm elections. The Justice Department usually avoids public steps against candidates in the 60 days before an election; that is a custom, not a law.
Last month, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said of the Omar inquiry that “something’s going to happen.”
“I will not be silenced.”Omar, on X, where she said she was “ok” and called the search an attempt to “weaponize federal law enforcement”
Trump called her “totally crooked” and said the search had “nothing to do with me.” Fox News reported the search first; Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, accused the administration of tipping off Fox News in advance.
- Remove her from the ballot
A charge, or even a felony conviction, adds no disqualification for House office, per the Congressional Research Service.
- Unseat her
Expulsion takes a two-thirds House vote, and the House has expelled six members in its history.
- Strip her citizenship
That takes a separate civil suit, proven by clear and convincing evidence. A search warrant needs only probable cause.
The case reaches back at least 26 years. It is separate from earlier complaints about her financial-disclosure reports; on those, the Office of Congressional Conduct, the House’s independent office that screens misconduct complaints against members, voted 5–1 to recommend dismissal.
Still open: the department has not named the court, the judge, or any act it says Omar herself committed.
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Trump defended letting Russian diesel into the U.S., as analysts said the 300,000-ton first shipment is too small to lower prices.
Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates put the first release at about 75,000 barrels a day. Global diesel demand runs about 28 million barrels a day. The field below lays that demand out in cells the size of the release.
Both figures are “about”, and both are barrels a day. No diesel cargo is verified yet: the tanker billed as first, Minerva Zen, carried fertilizer, per its operator. The last cell is drawn as a third.
“I don’t think that 75,000 barrels a day is enough to make a difference.”Andy Lipow, Lipow Oil Associates
Trump defended the deal on Monday, Oct. 12, posting that the “European Union paid Russia 250 Billion Dollars for Energy.” He gave no period; ABC News says CREA estimates of EU spending on Russian fossil fuels since the 2022 invasion roughly match. Trump said Russia would supply 300,000 tons immediately and 500,000 tons in November, then 1 million and later 3 million tons, depending on refinery conditions. Russia’s deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, told Tass that exports could eventually reach 3 million tonnes a month.
- Sept. 21Highest since the series began in 1994
- $6.53
- Oct. 5
- $6.20
- June 20, 2022The 2022 peak
- $5.81
- Monday, Oct. 12
- $6.27
- A year earlier
- $3.67
Different surveys on different days, so the two boards are not compared. Earlier editions drew diesel prices since 2021 and the deal’s tranches to scale.
- 28.75%
- FedEx Ground’s fuel surcharge for Oct. 12–18; it was 25% for July 13–19.
- 21%
- more winter fuel spending than last winter, EIA forecasts, for households that heat with oil: about 3% of U.S. households, mostly in the Northeast.
- $1.4 billion
- in extra planting-season diesel costs for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice, a July Joint Economic Committee minority analysis estimated.
“Propping up Putin’s war economy is morally wrong as he uses that money to bomb cities.”Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, on X
A senior administration official told Axios that Trump is “laser-focused on bringing down costs, whether it’s diesel with the Russians or importing Argentine beef.”
For U.S. scale: the first 300,000 tons is about 2.24 million barrels, against U.S. distillate use that averaged 3.92 million barrels a day in 2021–25, per EIA. A 2022 law banning Russian oil imports requires 45 days’ notice to Congress before it can be lifted.
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Saudi Arabia is investigating why its air defenses failed to stop the drone-and-missile strike that killed at least 13 at Riyadh’s airport.
The barrage hit King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, Oct. 10. Two unnamed regional officials told AP that the probe also asks why warning came so late.
(621 miles): how far the drones and missiles flew from Yemen. The drones came first, then the missiles, the officials told AP.
- Saturday, Oct. 10
- at least 13
- killed, including an American, after an injured Indian national died, per NBC. Fox News reports 14.
- more than 300
- hurt. Saudi aviation authorities count at least 320.
- Sunday, Oct. 11
A second strike killed one more.
- Monday, Oct. 12
Saudi state media reported a new drone-and-cruise-missile attack.
Saudi aviation officials extended the airport closure to Oct. 17 at 21:00 UTC, per Reuters. King Khalid handled 40.8 million passengers in 2025.
at the close, about $1.20 above Friday, Oct. 9. Intraday high $107.33, per The Hill; NBC put it near $108.
at the close, below the $96.24 of Oct. 6 (EIA via FRED) and the $107.02 peak of Sept. 15.
- 48 hours
- The War Powers Resolution requires the White House to notify Congress within 48 hours, stating the mission’s scope, length and legal authority, per the Congressional Research Service.
- H.Con.Res. 124
- Introduced Oct. 9, it says no law authorizes U.S. combat against the Houthis, and alleges that more than 200 U.S. troops already serve in a joint command.
- The precedent
- Trump’s March 28, 2025 letter cited only his constitutional powers for Navy and Air Force strikes on Houthi leaders and weapons stores.
For scale, in 2021 the Houthis fired 340 missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia while the coalition ran about 600 airstrikes a month, per RUSI.
Still open: Trump has not decided whether U.S. forces will join the Saudi-led campaign against the Houthis.
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The U.S. warned it could cut off Ukraine’s intelligence and NATO-run weapons purchases unless Kyiv stops striking Russian energy sites.
The State Department and Pentagon delivered the warnings to Kyiv and European capitals over the weekend, and the U.S. military told Ukrainian commanders directly. Trump blames Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian energy sites for high U.S. diesel prices.
GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan told PolitiFact on Sept. 15 the strikes caused 60–65% of the recent spike; the Iran war is the rest.
including warnings of incoming Russian ballistic missiles.
None working. Europe has no working substitute for U.S. satellite warning of missile launches; Britain’s Fylingdales radar only adds to the U.S. network.
Europe buys U.S. weapons for Ukraine through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, the NATO-run program started in summer 2025. NATO says PURL supplied about 75% of Ukraine’s Patriot missiles from its start through March 26, 2026.
Germany has promised an undisclosed number of PAC-2 Patriot missiles from its own stocks. France and Italy pledged faster Aster 30 deliveries by October 2026, but those fit a different air-defense system.
“They agreed because I said they agree.”Trump, on Monday, of the energy ceasefire he declared on Sunday, which Moscow has not confirmed
A White House official said the ceasefire covers only refineries at first, per Fox News. Zelensky says Russia then hit six Ukrainian energy sites, and Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent they would be held responsible for any strike on Russian energy sites during it. A U.S. official said Trump cut a diesel deal with Russia after Zelensky ignored about six U.S. requests to halt the strikes.
- Eight days
- Weapons stopped, March 2025.
- Six days
- Intelligence sharing stopped, March 2025.
- About eight days
- A July 2025 hold delayed 30 Patriot missiles and 8,500 artillery shells.
“They are calling Kyiv … they are calling everyone [in Europe],” said an official who got a call from a U.S. defense official. The Kremlin is treating the rift as a political win: Russia analyst Mark Galeotti said the diesel deal “drives another and increasingly thick wedge between Trump and Zelensky.”
Still open: no formal suspension order has been reported; CNN found no change to PURL over the weekend.
Read the reporting
Nearly half of DHS’s taxpayer-funded spending on pro-Trump TV ads came after Trump said his political operation would pay, NPR reports.
NPR reports that nearly half of the roughly $22 million in taxpayer money spent on the TV spots went out after Monday, Oct. 5, the day Trump said his political operation would pay for them. NPR measures that share against its own total.
Judge Jennifer Rochon’s 14-day restraining order bars any more government-paid airings and runs to Oct. 25 unless she extends it.
- NPR
- roughly $22 millionin taxpayer money spent on the spots, its own total; nearly half went out after Monday, Oct. 5
- PBS, ABC, the Guardian
- $20 millionthe amount DHS tapped
- DHS, per NOTUS
- about $19 millionused, of that $20 million purchase
The full amount spent, and so the dollar figure after Oct. 5, is still in dispute.
Federal court in Manhattan14-day restraining order
A short-term court freeze issued before a full hearing.
- Bars any more government-paid airings
- Blocks new ad deals
- Froze the ad contract and canceled the scheduled airings
Runs to Oct. 25 unless she extends it
Rochon put off a court conference on extending the order. A new date has not been set.
DHS bought the airtime through contractor LMD Agency under an existing contract. The money came from border-security commemorative-events funds in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the 2025 tax-and-spending law. The White House said it does not plan to have Trump’s PAC repay the government.
Still open: whether Rochon extends the order past Oct. 25; the conference on extending it has no new date.
Read the reporting
The Pentagon says unauthorized users got into unencrypted personnel records, including Social Security numbers, of 2.76 million living people.
A Defense Department official told Fox News that the users got into a Defense Manpower Data Center system that stored personal data without encryption. The access ran from October 2025 until July 2026 and also reached records of 294,000 dead people.
2.76 million living people
294,000 dead people
21.5 million people, one intrusion
4.2 million people, another
OPM says its 2015 records were stolen. The Pentagon’s letter says outsiders accessed the files; it does not say they copied them out. Each row is drawn on its own and none is added to another.
The exposed files may include Social Security numbers and military personnel details. The department says it has seen no sign that the data has been misused.
By mail, from IDXThe Pentagon’s contractor
- The letter lists which of your fields were exposed.
- IDX offers 12 months of free credit monitoring and identity-restoration help.
- Enroll at response.idx.us/DMDC with the code in your letter by Aug. 19, 2027.
- Questions: 1-855-744-4556.
- July 16, 2026
- The Defense Manpower Data Center found the flaw, in a file-sharing system.
- Sept. 18
- It mailed at least one notice.
- Sept. 24
- Military Times first reported the breach, citing a notification letter.
The data center is the department’s central personnel database; it says it holds more than 60 million records on troops, civilians, contractors, families, retirees and veterans. Records are not people, so that count is not drawn.
Still open: whether anything was copied out. The letter says outsiders accessed the files; it does not say they copied them out.