US Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that he had no advance notice of federal agents' search of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's home, and that authorities would investigate allegations against the congresswoman based on the facts.
"I did not have advance notice that her home was being raided," Vance told reporters before departing for Texas.
Vance said the administration sought to ensure that the Justice Department operated fairly and independently in criminal investigations.
"We try to run our Department of Justice in a fair and honest way. We try to let the law follow the facts rather than creating facts just to prosecute people we don't like," he said.
Vance added that he and President Donald Trump generally sought to avoid involvement in Justice Department investigations and prosecutions.
He acknowledged that there were "some serious allegations" against Omar but stressed that any further action would depend on the evidence.
"If there's a real case there, we're going to follow the facts. If there's not a real case there, then we won't," he said.
Trump said Monday that federal authorities are looking at Omar "very carefully," while denying any personal involvement in the investigation into the Minnesota congresswoman.
"I've always found her to be totally crooked, personally, but that has nothing to do with me. I think she's a terrible person, but that's really up to the DOJ — I have nothing to do with it," Trump said, referring to the Department of Justice.
Federal agents executed a court-approved search warrant at Omar's Washington, DC residence at 6 am local time (1000GMT) on Monday. The Justice Department said the enforcement action "is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation," according to media reports.
Omar criticized the search as an effort by the Trump administration to intimidate political opponents.
The Minnesota representative, the first Somali American in the US Congress, argued that the raid marks the latest escalation in a decade-long pattern of harassment, saying Trump has targeted her with "baseless lies and smear campaigns."
After her family secured asylum, 12-year-old Omar arrived in the US in 1995 from Somalia, where she was born. Tension between the lawmaker and Trump has intensified amid federal immigration crackdowns in Minnesota.
