Could Ilhan Omar investigation violate Hatch Act? Professor weighs in

(FOX 9) - Hamline law professor David Schultz joined FOX 9 on Sunday to discuss the investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar and whether it could potentially be a violation of the Hatch Act.

Questions over Hatch Act

The backstory:

Federal agents searched Omar's Washington, D.C., home on Monday, Oct. 12 as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. The Department of Justice has not said the nature of the investigation, but the Wall Street Journal reported that investigators were looking into possible fraud in Omar's immigration paperwork.

A lawsuit filed by the Democracy Defenders Fund challenges the search of Omar's home, arguing the action violated the Hatch Act.

Local perspective:

Hamline University political science and law professor David Schultz tells FOX 9 he would not have initially viewed the investigation as a Hatch Act issue. However, he said questions could arise if federal employees were directed to take actions for political purposes.

"Well, the Hatch Act was passed during the 1930s and it prevents federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity," Schultz said. "And the reason why I mention this here is that I would not necessarily have looked at this as a Hatch Act issue, but if in fact the federal government or Homeland Security or the FBI is being asked to perform political-type actions, then there's clearly a Hatch Act violation that would be there."

But Schultz said he believes the investigation raises broader questions that go beyond the Hatch Act, particularly about why federal authorities are acting now.

"But again, I think the bigger question sort of revolves around why now?" Schultz said. "And what I mean by that is that Ilhan Omar's 44 years old. She was naturalized at age 17. This is 27 years ago. The questions become regarding whether or not this is actually a live investigation. Do statute of limitations apply? And why within 60 days of an election?"

"Because generally the policy is not to do any type of major legal action against sitting and public officials within 60 days of an election so that they don't affect the outcome of an election. So lots of legal and policy questions that are out there."

What happens with the investigation?

Big picture view:

Schultz said it is too early to determine how the investigation could fare in court because the government has not publicly disclosed enough about the case.

"Well, we don't know. I mean, that's the issue at this point, is that we don't know what the investigation is," Schultz said. "If it's about immigration and claim that there was immigration fraud that occurred 27 years ago, if I'm Ilhan Omar's attorney, the first thing I'm going to argue is and say that this is so long ago that the law expired, that you lost your opportunity to be able to do anything."

"I think that's going to be one question. I think another question is going to be, as Ilhan Omar, Representative Omar has raised here, how much of this is political retribution?"

What they're saying:

Omar has accused the Trump administration of targeting political opponents and called the search an abuse of power. President Trump has denied that he has had any involvement in the investigation.

Schultz pointed to previous cases involving other political figures as another reason he believes the motivation behind the Omar investigation could face scrutiny.

"Because there have been other cases where Trump administration has tried to go after former FBI director, the attorney general in New York, a prosecutor in Atlanta, all political opponents, and they've been dismissed," Schultz said.

"And so again, there are a lot of questions regarding how much of this is legitimate legal investigation versus how much is political retribution. But again, since we don't have all the details regarding what the investigation is about, that raises again a lot of questions that we just can't answer."

Ilhan OmarPoliticsDonald J. Trump