The White House on Monday defended border czar Tom Homan after MSNBC reported he was investigated by the Biden administration for bribery, stressing that President Trump stands by him.
“Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 that you’re referring to, so you should get your facts straight. Number one,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters when asked about Homan allegedly receiving $50,000 in cash in exchange for contract awards in September of last year.
The FBI and Justice Department intended to see if Homan would fulfill his promise of helping agents win government contracts in a second Trump administration, but the case stalled when Trump won the 2024 election, MSNBC reported. The case was later closed by Trump appointees, according to the network.
Leavitt on Monday called the allegations “another example of the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice against one of the president’s strongest and most vocal supporters in the midst of a presidential campaign.”
“We had FBI agents going undercover to try and retract one of the president’s top allies and supporters, someone who they knew very well would be taking a government position months later,” Leavitt said.
“Mr. Homan did absolutely nothing wrong. And even the president’s Department of Justice, even Kash Patel’s FBI, looked into this just to make sure. They had a number of different prosecutors and FBI agents who looked into this, they found zero evidence of illegal activity or criminal wrongdoing.”
“The White House and the president stand by Tom Homan 100 percent because he did absolutely nothing wrong,” she said.
Homan on Saturday said that the allegations are “bulls‑‑‑.” FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a statement sent to The Hill, said agents and prosecutors reviewed the matter and “found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.”
Democrats have expressed outrage over the report.
“Did Trump’s DOJ shut down this bribery investigation? Was it Attorney General Bondi or FBI Director Patel? The act was caught on camera. The administration must turn over the tapes to Congress,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Sunday in a post on the social platform X.
“Border Czar Tom Homan was caught by the FBI accepting bribes – on camera – to deliver government contracts in exchange for $50,000 in cash. Pam Bondi knew. Kash Patel knew. Emil Bove knew,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Saturday on social media.
