Comer demands release of Ilhan Omar immigration evidence so Congress can weigh expulsion

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee is vowing to pursue a contempt vote against financier Leon Black for refusing testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein probe and calling on the Trump administration to release any evidence showing whether Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar broke immigration laws and should be expelled from Congress.Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., made the comments Monday night after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and White House border czar Tom Homan indicated such evidence involving Omar exists and is under investigation.
“I think they should make it public. Absolutely, make it public,” Comer said during an interview on the Just the News, No Noise television show. “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.
“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.”
Mullin revealed Thursday there is evidence that Omar, D-Minn., “married her brother” as part of an alleged immigration scheme and there is an “ongoing” investigation.
“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him to the United States,” Mullin told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, adding that Omar’s ex-husband lives in London. 
Mullin explained that lying about certain things on an immigration application can result in deportation, and there’s no expiration for that. 
The investigation may turn up “illegal activity,” which could result in Omar being deported, Mullin suggested. He cautioned that the case is still being investigated and insisted it’s not politically motivated. 
Omar became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000, when she was 17 years old, and she has vehemently denied marrying her brother. 
Homan confirmed Sunday federal officials are looking into the allegations as part of an “ongoing criminal investigation.”
“I know things are going on, but I can’t give specifics of what’s happening,” he said.
“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 added.
Meanwhile, Comer said he is preparing to proceed with a contempt vote after Black failed to appear under subpoena for testimony in the House. 
“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,” he said. 
“But we have some 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. So there are a lot of important questions that he needs to answer, and he defied a lawful subpoena. So the next step is to hold him in contempt,” he added.
Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management, is suing the committee. 
The lawsuit asks a federal court to block subpoenas that were issued as part of its investigation into Epstein.
The first subpoena compelled Mr. Black to appear for a deposition, and the second subpoena required him to produce nondisclosure agreements to the Committee.  
Black refused to appear for the deposition on Thursday, instead electing to file the lawsuit. Black’s lawsuit argues the subpoenas exceed the committee’s authority by seeking private information. 
“The Committee is on a fishing expedition that oversteps its authority and completely ignores its responsibility,” Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, said in a statement.

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