MINNEAPOLIS — Federal prosecutors filed a criminal case against a security guard briefly detailed to U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar in what his lawyer said was part of a larger effort to get him under oath to obtain information about the congresswoman.

Abdullahi Mohamud Mohamed, who was briefly assigned as Omar’s security detail on a 2022 trip to Somalia, was charged in April for allegedly lying to the government while trying to become a permanent U.S. resident. His lawyer, Bruce Rivers, said his client was prodded by federal officials numerous times throughout his case to supply information about the congresswoman before it was ultimately dismissed.

“You either put up or shut up in this administration and I’ve never, ever, in my 28 years of practice seen anything like this,” Rivers said.

The case, first reported by the New York Times, reveals the aggressive steps by the Trump administration to vigorously pursue criminal charges against the Democratic lawmaker from Minnesota, who has been a target of the president’s since his first term.

Federal officials are currently investigating Omar in a matter that came into public view Oct. 12 with a raid on her home in Washington, D.C.

The investigation, which has led to subpoenas of some of her family members and confiscation of her phone, laptop and notebooks, focuses on her immigration paperwork and, in part, on the longtime rumor that she married her brother in order to obtain citizenship years ago, the New York Times previously reported. Omar has long denied the claim and has characterized the investigation as a bid by the Trump administration to target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement.

According to his indictment in the District of Minnesota, Mohamed’s case arose from an October 2025 interview with Citizenship and Immigration Services while he was trying to obtain a green card. Prosecutors allege he lied by stating he had not worked on behalf of the Somali government while in the United States.

The sparse indictment also alleges Mohamed falsely claimed he had not interacted with any government offices in the United States or had interactions with any politicians. Mohamed was charged with one count of making a false statement.

Rivers said his client, who holds both British and Somali passports, likely didn’t understand the questions asked of him because English is not his first language and he did not have an interpreter with him.

Rivers said that before the indictment, his client was called to a meeting with federal officials and asked a number of questions about the congresswoman. Rivers said officials zeroed in on what he knew about a $10,000 check that she had written to Mohamed’s brother. Rivers said the government alleged that the check may have been a bribe that Omar paid to his client’s brother in order to facilitate a meeting with an ambassador and a Somali political official — a claim he said “doesn’t make any sense.”

Rivers said his client didn’t know the answers about the congresswoman as he was not close to Omar, having only briefly been detailed as her security guard during an overseas trip to Puntland, Somalia. Rivers said part of the meeting with government officials also touched on the U.S. pledging to prevent Mohamed’s deportation if he provided further information about the congresswoman. He was indicted April 7.

Jackie Rogers, a spokesperson for Omar, said the Trump administration’s alleged attempt to intervene in Mohamed’s immigration case in exchange for information about the Minnesota lawmaker is “outrageous.”

“This is a staggering abuse of presidential power and a blatant weaponization of the full federal government to intimidate political opponents,” she said.

Asked by the Minnesota Star Tribune about the alleged $10,000 check, she referred to New York Times reporting and reiterated that it was “for a loan.”

Mohamed was slated to go to trial in October. But he was called before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., in September, where Rivers said he was asked similar questions about the congresswoman that were previously posed to him. Mohamed repeated what he told officials, Rivers said.

“In other words, he didn’t really know much, if anything,” Rivers said. He called the trip to Washington a waste of time and money.

“There was no reason that he had to go down there. They wanted to get him under oath” for the larger investigation into Omar, Rivers said.

The day after his grand jury testimony, prosecutors moved to dismiss Mohamed’s case. In the motion, the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office said it was because Mohamed was on track to be deported.

“There is no longer a federal interest in continuing prosecution in light of his anticipated removal from the United States,” prosecutors wrote.

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(Paul Walsh of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.)

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