The FBI recorded Homan allegedly accepting $50,000 in cash as part of an undercover operation. Questions for the border czar haven’t gone away.
The FBI recorded White House border czar Tom Homan allegedly accepting ,000 in cash (in a Cava bag) as part of an undercover operation.
He wants the questions to go away.
They aren’t.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-12T20:54:57.469Z
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/white-houses-homan-deflects-when-pressed-on-cava-bag-controversy
It was September when MS NOW was first to report on an undercover FBI operation from 2024 in which Tom Homan was recorded accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help agents, who were posing as business executives, win government contracts in a second Trump administration.....
Two weeks later, the controversial official sat down with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” and faced questions about the controversy.
WELKER: Where is that ,000? Did you keep it?
HOMAN: I didn't take k from anybody & that's a question for the FBI. Bottom line I did nothing illegal.
WELKER: But was there k in the bag?
HOMAN: I'm not addressing it
WELKER: But did you keep the money?
HOMAN: k is ridiculous
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-11T15:12:52.619Z
.....Pressed further on whether he kept or returned the money, Homan described the matter as “ridiculous,” adding, “I will not answer any more of these questions.”
Asked whether he’d be comfortable with the FBI releasing the recordings of his interactions with the undercover agents, he concluded, “I am not going to get ahead of the FBI. That’s their decision.”
University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney and an MS NOW legal analyst, noted in response to the exchange,
“It doesn’t take a trained ear to hear the deflections.”,,,,'
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill,
three Democratic senators — Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Adam Schiff of California, each of whom serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee — filed a Freedom of Information Act request in November with the Justice Department’s criminal division, demanding a variety of details related to the case.
It’s not yet clear when, or if, the senators will receive the answers they’re looking for. Watch this space.
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