Former Minnesota GOP governor sees ‘political layer’ to Omar probe

Tim Pawlenty, the former Republican governor of Minnesota, acknowledged on Tuesday morning there was a “political layer” to the Trump administration’s investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Federal agents searched the Democrat’s Washington, D.C., home on Oct. 12 as part of an ongoing criminal probe into allegations of fraud and false statements made in immigration paperwork. The raid sparked broad condemnation from Democrats, who pointed to the close proximity of the midterm elections.

“The timing of it does suggest a political layer to it,” Pawlenty told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on “CNN This Morning. “Of course, because it’s political doesn’t mean it isn’t necessarily meritorious.”

He noted that the judge who signed the search warrant, D.C. District Judge Matthew Sharbaugh, previously clerked for Democratic officials.

“I don’t know whether there’s something real here or not,” Pawlenty said. “All of us are just going to have to wait until the actual evidence is produced.”

Omar, a longtime target of President Trump and his administration, decried the raid as an attempt of “political intimidation” in a social media post.

Additionally, Bolduan pressed Pawlenty about the president repeatedly calling Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) “ Mohammed .”

The Michigan-born Democratic nominee’s middle name is Mohamed — a fact Trump admitted during a speech at a Monday political rally in Kansas he did not know before.

“Actually his middle name is Mohamed, if you can believe it. It’s true,” the president said. “The one good thing, if you call somebody from that part of the world Mohamed, you’re about 65 percent sure to get it right.”

El-Sayed and other Democrats have accused Trump of using his Muslim faith against him.

“He knows my middle name is Abdul. He says it everyday,” the Democratic nominee wrote on social media after the president called him “Mohammed El-Sayed” in a Truth Social post earlier this month.

“But he’s not just attacking me. He’s attacking all of us,” El-Sayed added. “He thinks so low of us.”

Pawlenty expressed his desire to see the president home in on addressing concerns about his administration’s ongoing military operations against Iran and rising energy prices amid this conflict.

“I wish he would focus more on the main issue at the moment, which is what are we going to do about these rising costs in our economy?” the former governor said.