Good morning. Just three weeks to go if you’re a calendar-checking person.

A predawn raid of Democratic U.S Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington D.C. home is now part of the election runup.  A warrant was executed early Monday morning by agents with Homeland Security Investigations in what Trump administration officials say is a criminal investigation. The Department of Justice did not say what the investigation was about, but multiple news organizations report it had to do with Omar’s immigration documents. Omar’s family fled Somalia in the early 1980s when she was eight, first moving to a refugee camp in Kenya and later moving to the United States. Several Trump administration officials, including the president himself, have previously called for investigations. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last month that Omar was under investigation over immigration issues, but did not clarify. Omar took to X shortly after the raid. “Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced." The DOJ’s own guidance says agents should not conduct a public investigation or enforcement action within 60 days of an election, especially if it could change an election outcome or be an advantage for one political party over another.  At the White House on his way to Ohio, Trump denied being appraised of the raid in advance but proceeded to call her a "terrible person," "totally crooked" and a "complainer" who doesn't like this country. 

Political reaction was … as you might expect. Republicans were cheering on the action. “ACCOUNTABILITY IS COMING,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota congressional colleague of Omar’s put on social media. Democrats condemned it as an abuse of power. “I’m outraged by this attack on Representative Omar. Trump and his DOJ have a bizarre obsession with tearing down Minnesota, our leaders and our communities,” wrote Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat retiring after this term. With the raid this close to the election, it’s a motivator all around. Rep. Omar is reviled on the political right and there has been plenty of pressure from conservative influencers and figures to go after her. But the Justice Department’s many investigations and indictments of Trump opponents has stirred warnings of abuse of prosecutorial powers. That’s a theme that was already present in the campaign and will only get amped up. A crowd at a Trump rally chanted "deport, deport, deport" as the president recounted the Omar raid and recent incidents involving people of Somali descent.

President Donald Trump came off the sidelines in Minnesota’s Senate race yesterday. He told an Ohio rally that voters in Minnesota should cast ballots for Republican nominee Michele Tafoya. It came as he slammed Minnesota’s Somali community as looters and perpetrators of violence. The lack of a Trump endorsement in the race had been noteworthy. Tafoya had discouraged Trump from running for the White House again but backed him in 2024. She has sought to create some distance from Trump since gaining the GOP nomination. The former sports broadcaster has described herself in recent ads as an independent voice who won’t hesitate to break from the president. Democratic nominee Peggy Flanagan quickly circulated the Trump comment as she works to link her opponent to a president with low approval ratings in Minnesota. In his rally remarks, Trump cast doubt on Minnesota’s elections, saying he thought he won the state in all three campaigns. He lost Minnesota in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

Republican candidate for governor Lisa Demuth yesterday called for a statewide gang violence prevention task force to root out recent violence in the Twin Cities suburbs. Demuth called for the creation of a new task force within the Department of Public Safety, along with the appointment of tougher judges and members of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission. She appeared with members of the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation outside the Second Police Precinct building. “The status quo is not enough. We have to have drastic changes, and it starts with a change in direction from the top,” Demuth said. “When I'm governor, crises like we see with Somali gangs will be addressed head-on instead of just hoping that the gang violence will go away on its own.” Amy Klobuchar, Demuth’s DFL opponent in the governor’s race, proposed a regional gang violence prevention task force housed under the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension last week.

A stealth group that shares an address with a Cass County storage unit facility, isn’t yet registered with campaign or business regulators but has “transparency” in its name is sending out anti-Amy Klobuchar mailers. The “Citizens for Public Safety Transparency LLC” group isn’t on file with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office as a business entity or the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board as a political fund. Nothing is available in searchable IRS or Federal Election Commission data either. There is an entity by that name registered in Delaware but details of who is behind it are masked. The mailers are notable because they call Klobuchar “a cop’s best friend” and point out deaths of people attributed to police that didn’t result in charges. The ads don’t refer to her campaign as governor but urge people to call Klobuchar’s U.S. Senate office. During her run for president, Klobuchar had some trouble with voters of color who pointed to her days as a prosecutor. The new mailings are showing up in Minneapolis mailboxes, so could be an attempt to diminish her support in those Democratic-stronghold neighborhoods.  

Rep. Angie Craig is scheduled to campaign this weekend for DFL Senate nominee Peggy Flanagan, who beat Craig in the August primary. Craig said Monday she will kick off a door knocking event for Lt. Gov. Flanagan’s Senate campaign on Saturday in Burnsville. Flanagan handily defeated Craig for the nomination. This is the first time since their post-primary unity rally that we’ve seen Craig join the campaign. Craig and Flanagan “are united in standing up to Donald Trump and defeating Michele Tafoya, who is in lockstep with Trump,” according to a Monday news release, which said Saturday’s event will build on a historic DFL ground game that has already contacted more than 1.9 million potential voters. Tafoya has been focusing on Flanagan’s role in not detecting fraud, which cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars during the Walz-Flanagan administration. The two debate for the first and possibly only time this Friday at noon on MPR News.