In 2024, Trump’s now-border czar Tom Homan was recorded by the FBI accepting $50,000 in cash while promising to secure government contracts for undercover agents.
MSNBC reports that the FBI and Justice Department were waiting to move forward with their investigation into Homan until he began as border czar and could make good on his promise.
After Donald Trump became president in January 2025, however, the case hit a screeching halt. FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly requested an update on the investigation into Homan, and unnamed Trump appointees closed the case. While there was no official reason given, MSNBC reports that one Trump DOJ official called it a “deep state” investigation.
The probe into Homan began during the summer of 2024, when the subject of a separate federal investigation reported that Homan was soliciting money in exchange for future government contracts should Trump be re-elected. Soon a joint investigation between the FBI, the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Western District of Texas was underway.
The inquiry looked “into the Border Czar and former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan and others based on evidence of payment from FBI undercover agents in exchange for facilitating future contracts related to border enforcement,” according to documents obtained by MSNBC.
The contents of the MSNBC report were immediately rebuked by both the FBI and the White House.
In a joint statement provided to the Daily Beast, FBI Director Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “This matter originated under the previous administration and was subjected to a full review by FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing. 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.”
“This blatantly political investigation, which found no evidence of illegal activity, is 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,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson wrote in an email to the Daily Beast. “Tom Homan has not been involved with any contract award decisions. He is a career law enforcement officer and lifelong public servant who is doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country.”
(These were the same rebuttals issued to MSNBC.)
Though Homan did begin his professional career as a police officer in West Carthage, New York, his ties to the private sector are well-documented.
In May, The Washington Post reported that in the two years prior to being appointed as Trump’s border czar, Homan collected more than $5,000 in consulting fees from the GEO Group—one of two companies that run a majority of the country’s immigrant detention centers. (The actual amount Homan pocketed could be much higher; ethics rules do not require a more specific disclosure.)
“The GEO Group is a major private prison contractor whose largest source of revenue is contracts with ICE,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin told The Washington Post at the time. “This news raises even more questions, and the corruption concerns are too large to ignore.”
Homan himself has never shied away from advocating for federal investigations into perceived wrongdoings. In July, he called for the DOJ to look into CNN for the outlet’s reporting on ICE.
“A national media outlet forecasting law enforcement operations,” Homan told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “DOJ needs to look at this. Send a strong message. This is disgusting. It’s a dangerous job; this puts the danger at a whole new level.”
For Patel, the news comes after a tough week in Washington. The FBI director needed self-help notes to get through testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, where he faced down numerous lawmakers over his department’s handling of the Epstein files.
On X, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) responded to MSNBC’s report by writing, “The most corrupt administration we have ever seen.”
The most corrupt administration we have ever seen. https://t.co/bhGd2UvivX pic.twitter.com/9970aPujJ0
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) September 20, 2025
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) response to the news was much cheekier: “Who’s the illegal now Tom Homan?”
Who’s the illegal now @RealTomHoman https://t.co/yTr7mVi9yb
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 20, 2025
The post Trump Border Czar Was Caught on Camera Taking Cash in FBI Sting appeared first on The Daily Beast.
