Former prosecutor says Democrats have a "dirty hand" in complaints about Omar weeks before election

Former federal prosecutors say the DOJ's 60-day rule that Democrats cite in the Ilhan Omar house search is unwritten, not a ban.

The former prosecutor of the Ministry of Justice describes the importance of "probable cause" in the attack on Omar's house

Former DOJ Attorney Jim Trusty joins "America's Newsroom" to analyze the federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar's home in Washington, DC. Trusty discusses the DOJ search warrant executed by Homeland Security Investigations and explores possible immigration charges.

Former federal prosecutors are pushing back on Democratic charges that the Trump administration violated Justice Department policies by searching the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, just weeks before the election.

"It's hard not to point to the dirty hands of people who might complain about election meddling," said former federal prosecutor Jim Trusty, referring to former special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.

Rep. Jimmy Raskin, the senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a lengthy statement alleging that the Justice Department violated protocol by taking "overt actions on politically sensitive issues in the 60 days before an election."

Homan confirms 'criminal' investigation into Ilhan Omar, says he knows 'things are going on'

"Just 22 days before the election, this is blatant political intimidation and an attempt to interfere with Congresswoman's re-election," Raskin wrote in a press release.

But Kambill noted that the U.S. Justice Department's manual, which outlines procedures for federal criminal investigations, does not expressly set a 60-day period before an election in which investigative actions are not conducted.

Kambil said that any action that could be considered to influence the election requires the prior approval of the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General.

The Justice Department has long followed an unwritten procedure known as the "60-day rule" that prevents politically sensitive investigative actions near elections. The practice was scrutinized in a 2018 Justice Department inspector general's report that examined former FBI Director James Comey's decision to inform Congress of new developments in the Hillary Clinton email investigation just 11 days before the 2016 presidential election. The watchdog concluded that Comey had disregarded long-standing department policy and practice and called his decision a "serious error of judgment."

The Justice Department was also accused by President Donald Trump of flouting its "60-day rule" when special counsel Jack Smith filed a revised indictment against Trump just 70 days before the 2024 presidential election. Weeks later, Smith filed a 165-page brief detailing the evidence against Trump in the federal election meddling case, which was made public just 34 days before the election. Trump and Republican lawmakers accused Smith of trying to influence the election, but Smith maintained that his office was following Justice Department policy and following a court-ordered filing schedule.

"For 60 days," Trump wrote in all caps to his Truth Social, the Department of Injustice is to do absolutely nothing to taint or interfere with a case before the election.

Trump's family surveillance in the era of Biden, "Nixon" is examined from an unlikely angle

"Going back to Jack Smith, obviously we're trying to try a case — the Jan. 6 case before the election — to influence voters," Trustee said.

Trustee noted that the Department of Justice needed the approval of a Washington, D.C. judge before executing its search warrant.

"There is at least one probable cause," Trustee said. "It is far from proving a case in court."

Trustee continued, “But keep in mind that in D.C., President Trump and his administration don't always get friendly treatment from the judges there. "So it was a magistrate judge who looked at the affidavit and said it was enough to justify an attack, and now we've had an attack."

A judge can deny a search warrant request if investigators cannot establish probable cause. But upholding a warrant doesn't necessarily resolve questions about whether the search complied with the Justice Department's election-year policies.

Trump's State Department is making the biggest denaturalization effort in the department's history — and says it's "just the beginning."

"When you see Democrats challenging the ruling or what happened, that's not really the case," Cambill said. "They're challenging the timing."

The Homeland Security investigation raid stems from an investigation into immigration documents that Omar's father completed when he was a child. Omar, who fled Somalia's civil war, immigrated to the United States with his family in 1995 at the age of 12, and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.

In response to the raid on his home, Omar accused Trump of engaging in "political intimidation" against him.

"This attack by Trump's DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies," Omar posted on X. "For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric and repeatedly targeted her."

Republicans don't hit home in historically crucial battleground district: 'Lots of hope'

Omar's attack drew an ominous warning from Vance as he blasts the progressive MP's "anger" at America.

Kamala Harris is facing Democratic skepticism about 2028 as allies claim she blew her chance.