A deleted 2013 Father’s Day post from Rep. Ilhan Omar calling her father “Nur Said” has resurfaced as federal investigators examine her identity records and long-denied marriage claims.
The Minnesota Democrat told Fox News Digital her real name is Ilhan Abdullahi Omar after a federal court filing tied to a search of her Washington, D.C., home identified her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, aka Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” The filing does not explain why that formulation appears or prove she used a false identity.
Federal agents searched the residence on Oct. 12 as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into possible false statements on immigration and naturalization documents. Omar has denied wrongdoing and called the probe a political attack. She has also said she will leave her D.C. home after the raid.
The deleted social media post is drawing fresh attention because the name she used for her father lines up, in part, with the name of her former husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi. Omar and her office have repeatedly rejected claims that the two men are brothers and that the earlier marriage was arranged for immigration benefits.
In June 2013, Omar wrote a Father’s Day message that later circulated in archived form. The Daily Caller first reported the archived version in 2019. Omar deleted the post on the morning of Sept. 19, 2019.
The message read:
"Happy Father’s Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father...,"
“Aabo” is a Somali term for father. A statement recirculated online and attributed to her spokesperson said “Nur Said” was a childhood nickname her father used on a public page, and that the post was removed after the family received threats. Fox News Digital reported that Omar’s office did not respond Friday to a request for comment specifically about the deleted post.
Name records do not line up cleanly. A Congressional Black Caucus memorial post marking her father’s death in 2020 referred to him as “Nur Omar Mohamed.” Fox News has not independently verified claims that the father’s full name was Nur Said Elmi Mohamed. An Oxford University historian, Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, was quoted in related New York Post coverage referring to the father as “Nur Said.”
Somali naming custom generally runs given name, then the father’s given name, then the paternal grandfather’s given name. Similarity of names alone does not prove a blood relationship. That point matters because critics have treated the overlap between “Nur Said” in the old post and former husband Ahmed Nur Said Elmi as evidence of a sibling marriage.
Court documents connected to the D.C. search warrant identify Omar as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, aka Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” Two people familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital that Ilhan Nur Said Elmi may be her legal name. Her office disputed that characterization.
Omar’s own answer to Fox News Digital was blunt.
"Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, you know it,"
She added: “It’s Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
Federal sources have separately said the legal name voters know may not match internal records under review. The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the filing or the search.
A former Minnesota federal immigration judge, speaking to Fox News Digital, said that if investigators prove someone knowingly used a false name on federal forms, the conduct could be examined under the federal false-statements statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Whether that law applies, the judge said, depends on the specific documents, whether the statement was material, and whether intent can be shown.
Omar’s marriage to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi ended in divorce in 2017. She legally married Ahmed Hirsi in 2018. For years, opponents have alleged the first marriage was to a brother and was used to secure immigration status. No conviction on that claim appears in the reporting provided here, and Omar’s side has treated it as a smear.
On MS NOW, when asked whether her one-time husband may have been a “distant relative,” Omar answered:
"Not to my knowledge,"
A spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Omar has “repeatedly and unequivocally denied” the “baseless, disgusting conspiracy theory” that she married her brother.
Related coverage has noted subpoenas of relatives and the seizure of a phone during the D.C. search. Omar has hired high-profile counsel as the immigration probe defense takes shape. The public record still does not identify which exact immigration or naturalization forms, if any, are the focus of the false-statement review.
President Donald Trump escalated the political pressure. In a Truth Social post highlighted by Just the News, he said prosecutors’ filing showed she used a name other than the one under which she was elected and sworn in.
"It was just revealed that Ilhan Omar’s name is not Ilhan Omar, the one she used to get elected and sworn into Congress, but rather, it’s an entirely different name, Ilhan Nur Said Elmi... Therefore, because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must IMMEDIATELY resign from Congress."
Trump has also demanded her immediate resignation over the alleged fake-name issue and has argued the citizenship questions could carry serious penalties. Omar, for her part, has held a news conference blaming him for death threats and attacks against her.
The core sequence is now public and narrow. A 2013 post used “Nur Said” for her father. She deleted it in 2019 after it was archived and reported. A 2020 caucus memorial used “Nur Omar Mohamed.” A 2025-era search warrant filing used “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, aka Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.” She tells reporters the name the public knows is the real one. Her office calls the brother-marriage story a conspiracy theory. Federal agents are still examining whether any immigration or naturalization paperwork contains false statements.
Voters can read the names side by side, weigh the denials, and watch whether prosecutors ever put specific forms and specific false statements on the record. Accountability starts with matching the paperwork to the oath.
