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FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the FBI and DOJ “found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing” by Tom Homan
The September 2024 payment arose from a probe that was not targeting Tom Homan. (AP)
Tom Homan, now US President Donald Trump’s border czar, was recorded last year accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash by undercover FBI agents in an investigation the Trump Justice Department later closed, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
The September 2024 payment arose from a probe that was not targeting Homan, The NYT said, citing people familiar with the case.
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Homan was investigated for potential bribery and other crimes after he agreed to help the undercover agents, posing as businessmen, secure government contracts in a second Trump administration, CNN quoted the report as saying.
The cash was inside a bag from the fast-casual chain Cava, The NYT report said. MSNBC first reported on the investigation.
How did Homan come under the scanner?
After the original target of a case suggested that a payment to Homan could lead to federal border security contracts, the probe looked into Homan, The NYT report said. On the tape of the September 2024 meeting, Homan appeared to agree to help the undercover agents win contracts if Donald Trump won reelection, the report alleged.
Was the case followed up?
The DOJ shut down the case after Trump began his second term this year, over doubts prosecutors could prove Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the president’s first term , had agreed to a specific act in exchange for the cash and because he was not in a government position at the time.
US government’s reactions
FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the matter, which originated under the Biden administration, was subject to a full review by officials with the FBI and DOJ, who “found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing”, according to CNN.
“The Department’s resources must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed,” they said in a statement Saturday.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, slammed the matter as a “blatantly political investigation” and called Homan “a career law enforcement officer and lifelong public servant.”
Who is Tom Homan?
A career law enforcement officer, Homan served as the public face of the first Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to step up immigration enforcement before retiring in 2018.
After leaving government, he became a Fox News contributor. He also contributed to Project 2025, the sweeping conservative blueprint for the next Republican president, which Trump distanced himself from during his campaign.
In a sign of his influence in Trump’s orbit, Homan addressed the Republican National Convention in July 2024. Speaking from the stage in Milwaukee, Homan warned immigrants who “Joe Biden has released into our country in violation of federal law: You better start packing now. You’re damn right.”
Less than a week after Trump won reelection, he announced Homan would serve as his administration’s border czar.
With CNN inputs
About the Author
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d…Read More
The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d… Read More
September 22, 2025, 16:57 IST
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