Ilhan Omar gives 4-word response when asked if she's related to her ex-husband

Ilhan Omar has addressed the rumor that she wed her brother so that he could get legal status in the US.

Omar legally married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009, seven years after they had a religious wedding in 2002.

The couple have since split and finalized their divorced in 2017. She's now married to Tim Mynett.

There have long been conspiracy theories about the nature of her marriage to British citizen Elmi, one being that he was related to the congresswoman.

Sitting down with MS Now, Omar – who was born in Somalia and is a naturalized US citizen – was quizzed about the reports that her ex husband was her brother and how the unusual rumor first started.

"There are right wing people who believe that this man was your brother," journalist Chris Hayes said. "You have called it a disgusting lie. Who is this man that was your husband? When did they start saying he was your brother?"

Ilhan Omar has denied that she's related to her ex husband (MS Now/YouTube)

"It started with the Somali blog," Omar replied. "I don't know if it still exists but somebody put in there that, you know, he had to have been my brother – or something to that effect."

She continued: "Right wing conspiracy theorists in Minneapolis got a hold of it and they kind of went to random people who were like 'she introduced him to us and said that she was her brother', which is insane.

"I don't know those people that they talk about."

When asked directly by Hayes if she was related to Elmi, she laughed and replied: "Not to my knowledge."

The interview marks Omar's first since her home was raided by federal agents on October 12. As a result, she now plans on leaving the Washington DC property.

Omar's home was raided by federal agents earlier this month (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)

In the interview with MS NOW, Omar said she was rattled by the search weeks out from the November 3 mid-term elections, which will decide control of the House of Representatives and Senate. She is running for re-election in a strong Democratic district centred in Minneapolis and is expected to retain her seat.

Omar recalled waking at around 6am to Homeland Security investigators banging on her door with a warrant. They searched for four or five hours and seized 17 items, including phones, notebooks, a Somali language children’s book, and a vintage camera that her husband had received as a gift, she said.

The US Justice Department has shared few details about the case other than saying it was a criminal investigation. Reportedly federal authorities are investigating potential fraud in her family’s immigration paperwork and have issued grand jury subpoenas to some of her relatives, a person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press.