UPDATE (Sept. 22, 8:53 p.m. ET): In an interview on Fox News Monday night, Homan did not echo the White House denial issued earlier in the day. Instead, he said: “I did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal. It’s hit piece after hit piece after hit piece. And I’m glad the FBI and DOJ came out and said — you know, said that nothing illegal happened and nothing, no criminal activity.”
The White House on Monday asserted that Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, did not take $50,000 in cash last year as part of a federal criminal investigation, contradicting the accounts of multiple people familiar with the case and internal government documents reviewed by MSNBC.
“Mr. Homan never took the 50,000 dollars that you’re referring to, so you should get your facts straight,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to a reporter’s question about an FBI sting operation first reported on Saturday by MSNBC and subsequently confirmed by multiple other news organizations.
Multiple people familiar with the matter told MSNBC that FBI agents posing as businessmen handed Homan $50,000 in cash during a meeting recorded by the FBI in Dallas in September 2024.
An internal case summary viewed by MSNBC said Homan accepted the money in exchange for “facilitating” contracts in a future Trump administration.
An internal case summary viewed by MSNBC said Homan accepted the money in exchange for “facilitating” contracts in a future Trump administration. The undercover operation was part of a Justice Department criminal investigation that led to a public corruption probe of Homan.
The inquiry stalled after Trump appointees took over the Justice Department and the FBI. The Justice Department then closed the investigation.
The White House did not initially dispute that Homan took the money when asked about the case on Saturday.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson instead criticized the probe as a “blatantly political investigation, which found no evidence of illegal activity.” And she called it “yet another example of how the Biden Department of Justice was using its resources to target President Trump’s allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country.” Leavitt continued that line of criticism on Monday, saying during her regular briefing that “this was another example of the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice against one of President Trump’s strongest and most vocal supporters.” Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee told MSNBC they plan to investigate the facts of the Justice Department’s Homan case and the circumstances under which it was closed, a committee spokesperson said. Over the weekend, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a joint statement when asked for comment by MSNBC to its exclusive reporting on the Homan investigation, which they said “was subjected to a full review by FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”
Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for MS NOW.
Carol Leonnig is a senior investigative reporter with MS NOW. Recommended
