The suspect in the weekend bombing attack in New York asked his congressman in 2014 for help with his wife’s emigration to the United States in 2014, the lawmaker revealed Monday.
“[Ahmad Khan] Rahami contacted my office in the year 2014 because he wanted his wife to come from Pakistan,” Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., said on MSNBC. “At the time she was pregnant and Pakistan, they told her she could not come over until she had the baby, because she had to get a visa for the baby.”
Sires’ congressional district includes the town of Elizabeth, one of the neighborhoods in which Rahami allegedly placed pipe bombs. Police also believe he is responsible for placing explosives in two locations in New York City, including one that detonated and injured 29 people.
Five members of Rahami’s family were arrested Sunday night, but they were released without being charged. Sires couldn’t say for certain if Rahami’s wife ever made it to the country.
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“I assume she did,” he said. “[Rahami] was kind of nasty, too.”
Catherine Herridge said on the Kelly File that the FBI “indeed had prior contact with Rahami after an alleged domestic incident with his wife.” This appears to reference the first wife.
Trace Gallagher reported that the second wife, who may have instead lived in Afghanistan, left the US a few days ago for the United Arab Emirates, but was intercepted by Emirati authorities.