Please Sign Here: The Judge Behind the Omar Search
The magistrate judge reported to have approved the federal search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home gave to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, before he joined the bench, and he was chosen by the court's own judges rather than by a president. Reports say he also required protections for her congressional records before he signed.
Before he became a judge, the federal magistrate judge reported to have approved the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's Washington home gave money to Democrats, including about $549 to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. Reuters and CNN, citing sources, named him Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh. The warrant is still sealed.
Sharbaugh twice clerked for Judge Robert Wilkins, whom President Obama appointed. He was picked in 2024 by the judges of the federal court in Washington, not by a president, through a panel chaired by Jessie Liu, whom President Donald Trump had made the city's top federal prosecutor.
By the accounts of CNN and CBS sources, Sharbaugh required a process to shield Omar's legislative records before he approved the warrant. The Justice Department calls the search part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Omar denies wrongdoing and has not been charged. Her lawyers say the department broke the judge's rules, which it denies.
Mike Davis, a conservative legal activist, argues the judge's record undercuts claims of a political prosecution. Omar's lawyers call the investigation politically motivated. The government must answer a request to unseal the records by October 22.
Washington — The federal magistrate judge reported to have approved the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home here is a former Democratic donor who was chosen for the bench by the court's own judges, not by a president.
Reuters and CNN, each citing people familiar with the case, identified the judge as Matthew Sharbaugh of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The court has not confirmed it, because the warrant and the papers behind it remain sealed. A magistrate judge is a federal judge who handles early steps in cases, such as signing search and arrest warrants. To sign one, the judge must find probable cause, meaning enough evidence that a crime was likely committed and that proof of it is likely in the place to be searched. The judge hears only the government's side, in private.
The judge's record
Federal Election Commission records show that Sharbaugh, then a lawyer at the firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, gave about $549 to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. From 2010 to January 2024 he gave more than $11,000 in all, to Democratic candidates and committees, including Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, much of it through ActBlue, the online platform Democrats use to raise money. The records show no gifts after he became a judge, and the code of conduct for federal judges says they should not contribute to political organizations or candidates.
The court's biography says he twice clerked for Judge Robert L. Wilkins, first on the district court and then on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. President Barack Obama appointed Wilkins to both courts.
How he got the job
Presidents do not choose magistrate judges, and the Senate does not confirm them. Under federal law, a majority of a district's judges appoint them, for eight-year terms. The court announced that Sharbaugh was sworn in on October 28, 2024, by Chief Judge James E. Boasberg, after a selection process run by a panel chaired by Jessie Liu. President Donald Trump nominated Liu as the U.S. attorney for Washington in 2017.
What the judge did
According to CNN and CBS, the warrant went back and forth between prosecutors and the judge for about a week. Prosecutors sought broad access to records at the house and argued at first that court-ordered protections for a lawmaker's office did not apply to a home. Sharbaugh required a screening process to keep investigators from reviewing her legislative records before he approved the search, those outlets and Reuters reported, citing their sources.
What the government says
Homeland Security Investigations agents carried out the search on October 12. "Today in the Washington, D.C. area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice," a department spokesperson said. "This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation." Tom Homan, the White House border czar, told Fox News the warrant was "signed by a judge" and that the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security are leading the case. One person familiar with the matter told Reuters the warrant lists conspiracy, false statements on immigration paperwork and immigration fraud as possible crimes. On October 17, Homan told Fox News, "I've been told they have a strong case," and said he did not have the specifics of the evidence.
What Omar says
Omar called the search "an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement" and wrote, "I will not be silenced." She denies wrongdoing and has not been charged. In an October 16 letter, her lawyers, Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, said agents broke the judge's rules by failing to notify her and the House's lawyers and by keeping her from her attorney for more than an hour, and they asked for her property back. A Justice Department spokesperson said the letter was "riddled with false allegations and inaccuracies" and that agents "complied with all court orders."
The argument over the signature
Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, a conservative legal group, wrote in a Fox News opinion column that "if anything, Judge Sharbaugh's record suggests a judge predisposed to rule against the Trump Justice Department, not for it." Omar's lawyers call the case a "vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated criminal investigation." A judge's signature on a warrant means the judge found that the government's sworn account met the probable-cause bar; it does not decide guilt.
What is still sealed
The warrant, the sworn statement behind it and the judge's orders remain sealed. News organizations, including The New York Times and Reuters, have asked the court to unseal them, and the conservative group Judicial Watch filed its own request. Boasberg ordered the government to respond to the Times's application by October 22.