Nationwide — Rep. Ilhan Omar has hired two prominent Washington, D.C., attorneys to represent her as she faces two federal investigations. Amy Jeffress and Joshua Matz, partners at the law firm Hecker Fink LLP, have experience representing senior Democrat officials and handling high-profile legal battles involving President Donald Trump. Both attorneys have built careers representing Democrat politicians and clients involved in cases challenging Trump and his administration. According to Fox News, their previous clients include former President Joe Biden, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrat lawmakers. Their legal backgrounds also include election disputes, congressional investigations and major civil lawsuits.
Jeffress previously worked as a federal prosecutor for 10 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. During that time, she tried more than 40 cases and served as chief of the office’s National Security Section. She also worked as a Department of Justice attaché. Before joining Hecker Fink, she served as legal counsel to Pelosi and the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. She also represented former FBI attorney Lisa Page during congressional scrutiny of the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
One of her more recent high-profile cases involved Biden, whom she represented in a lawsuit against the Justice Department over the release of audio recordings from his interviews with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The recordings, made in 2016 and 2017, became the subject of a Freedom of Information Act request from the Heritage Foundation. Biden sought to block their release, but a federal court rejected his request, and the recordings became public in July 2026. Jeffress is also married to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who drew criticism from Trump after ruling against the president in a separate case involving the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Matz brings a different set of high-profile cases to the legal team. A Harvard Law School graduate, he clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and has focused much of his practice on democracy and election-related disputes. He represented Pennsylvania in defending the certification of its 2020 election results, including before the Supreme Court. He also advised House Democrats during both of Trump’s impeachment proceedings in his first term. Matz later represented writer E. Jean Carroll in her civil lawsuits against Trump. Juries found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse, awarding Carroll substantial financial damages.
His other clients have included students, parents, and teachers who challenged Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” law. He also represented Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in a lawsuit over COVID-19 restrictions, including school closures, and victims of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The two attorneys are now handling Omar’s legal matters as investigators examine separate questions involving her immigration history and financial disclosures. Omar has denied wrongdoing and questioned the investigations. Her legal team has also challenged the government’s handling of a search of her Washington, D.C., home, arguing that federal agents failed to follow procedures designed to protect congressional members’ constitutional rights. The Justice Department has disputed those allegations. Meanwhile, Omar has urged supporters to continue contributing to her political efforts, warning that the legal fight could become costly.