Ogles on Thursday shared a letter he sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking the Justice Department to investigate him claiming “that he may have procured U.S. citizenship through willful misrepresentation or concealment of material support for terrorism.”
The Republican cited some of Mamdani’s rap lyrics that he regarded as questionable and his refusal to condemn the phrase, “Globalize the intifada.” Some Jews see the words as a rallying cry for violence against them, and many Palestinians see it as an embrace of their struggle for a homeland.
Mamdani is Muslim and a naturalized citizen born in Uganda who moved to New York at age 7 and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
Civil rights groups have condemned the recent attacks and warned that they could lead to violence.
“This vile, racist attack isn’t just Islamophobic — it’s a dangerous call to strip a U.S. citizen of his rights because of his name, faith, and politics,” Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, wrote of Ogles’s post. “That’s not patriotism. It’s white nationalism dressed in a suit and tie. If your target wasn’t Muslim, you wouldn’t dare say it,” Awad added.
Mamdani faced similar attacks suggesting that he should be deported during the primary campaign. After his surprise showing on Tuesday — Mamdani led the pack after the first round of ballots were tallied in a ranked-choice vote — Republicans on Capitol Hill have started going after him with more frequency. Some of the attacks have involved baseless insinuations seeking to portray him as a violent terrorist.
