Senate Democrats press Trump administration for information on border czar Tom Homan and federal contracts

Washington — Senate Democrats are escalating their calls for for details about White Home border czar Tom Homan and any involvement he has had in federal contracts, following allegations that he accepted $50,000 in money from undercover FBI brokers posing as businessmen final 12 months.

In a letter to Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem that was first obtained by CBS Information, seven Democrats on the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs Committee known as for the discharge of Division of Homeland Safety contracts, communications and different supplies tied to the allegations. The group of lawmakers, which incorporates rating member Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, set an Oct. 10 deadline for the division to reply.

CBS Information reported earlier this week that investigators examined whether or not Homan took the cash in September 2024 in return for guarantees of presidency motion if President Trump returned to workplace. One supply briefed on the matter stated investigators have been targeted on a bag of cash given to Homan. MSNBC first reported that the transaction was caught on video as a part of an FBI sting, and that Homan indicated he might assist the undercover brokers win authorities contracts. Homan didn’t disclose any such fee on his White Home ethics filings, and Justice Division sources advised CBS Information the probe concerned FBI and public integrity investigators earlier than it was closed by Trump appointees.

“If true, this alleged conduct by a senior authorities official is unacceptable,” the Democratic senators wrote, warning that the administration’s resolution to finish the case “raises additional issues that the Administration is weaponizing our system of justice to guard the President’s pals and to persecute his political foes.” The letter additionally factors to the $170 billion Congress not too long ago appropriated for border safety and immigration enforcement, stressing that “our homeland safety shouldn’t be on the market.”

Democrats famous that Homan beforehand labored as a marketing consultant for GEO Group, a personal jail firm that’s considered one of ICE’s largest contractors, saying his relationship with the corporate could possibly be a battle of curiosity. Homan was an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement throughout the first Trump time period and was named border czar shortly after the 2024 election.

In an look on Fox Information this week, Homan insisted that he did nothing improper. 

“Look, I did nothing felony. I did nothing unlawful,” he stated. “You are speaking a couple of man who spent 34 years imposing the regulation.”

On Monday, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Homan by no means took the cash. She known as the investigation, which was initiated by the prior administration and dropped by the Trump administration, “one other instance of the weaponization of the Biden Division of Justice towards considered one of President Trump’s strongest and most vocal supporters.” Justice Division leaders have additionally stated investigators discovered no credible proof of wrongdoing.

The Senate Democrats are asking DHS at hand over all contracts and grants Homan has been concerned in since Jan. 20, 2025; his communications on contract awards; full GEO Group contract recordsdata; contacts between GEO Group and federal officers; and data of conferences with former shoppers whereas serving as border czar. 

A DHS spokesperson referred questions concerning the demand to the White Home. A White Home spokesperson pointed to statements defending Homan and saying he “has not been concerned with any contract award selections.”

“He’s a profession regulation enforcement officer and lifelong public servant who’s doing an outstanding job on behalf of President Trump and the nation,” stated Abigail Jackson, the White Home deputy press secretary.

The letter follows a flurry of comparable strikes this week. Democrats on the Home Homeland Safety Committee known as for Homan to testify, and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee opened an inquiry into the closure of the investigation. The identical group of Democrats on the Homeland Safety Committee pressed Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi to launch details about the Homan investigation by Oct. 8.

With Republicans in charge of the Home and Senate, the inquiries are unlikely to go far, since Democrats don’t wield subpoena energy within the minority. However the investigations might acquire steam if Democrats win again both chamber in subsequent 12 months’s midterm elections.