WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 16, 2025 (UPI) — Trump administration “border czar” Tom Homan denied accepting $50,000 and called reports to the contrary “hit pieces” while participating in a live event at The Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
Conservative commentator and journalist Bill O’Reilly asked Homan if he had any response to recent reports that he accepted a $50,000 bribe during an FBI sting in 2024.
“I didn’t take $50,000 from anybody,” Homan responded, which prompted O’Reilly to ask how the claim “got into the mainstream.”
“I have no idea,” Homan said. “There’s been hit pieces on me since I came back to this administration.
“There’s got to be 30, 40 hit pieces on me, about how I’m involved in government contracts when, in fact, on day one, [when] I came back, I recused myself from any discussions on any contracts or any monetary decisions like that.”
Homan said he has a company that did consulting, so he “cleared myself” on his first day back.
“What people don’t talk about is I took a huge pay cut to come back and serve my nation,” he continued. “I’m not enriching myself doing this job.”
When asked if the reports make him angry, Homan said, “I don’t care what people think about me and never have because I know who I am.”
Chris Cuomo, Stephen A. Smith, and O’Reilly interviewed Homan during the town hall event to discuss Immigration and Customs Enforcement that was sponsored by NewsNation.
A Sept. 20 MSNBC report said FBI agents, who were posing as business executives, recorded Homan accepting the alleged bribe.
Homan afterward said he “did nothing criminal,” and the White House confirmed that federal authorities investigated the matter but determined there is “no credible evidence” of wrongdoing by Homan, according to Politico.
Despite the White House announcing federal investigators found no credible evidence against Homan, congressional Democrats are seeking investigations into the matter.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have written Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to release any recordings that might exist of the alleged bribe.
The letter suggested the alleged recording had been “confirmed by six sources” and shows Homan promising to secure government contracts for border security workers if Donald Trump were to win the Nov. 5 presidential election.
House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wants Homan to testify before that committee.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also have asked the FBI and Justice Department to explain why it closed an investigation into the matter.
The Senate Democrats in the letter to Patel said they find it “difficult to believe that an investigation with evidence of Mr. Homan accepting $50,000 cash in a bag — documented by audio and/or video recording — could have been found to lack ‘credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.'”
Patel and Bondi have said theHouse Homeland Security Committee ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wants Homan to testify before that committee.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also have asked the FBI and Justice Department to explain why it closed an investigation into the matter.
The Senate Democrats in the letter to Patel said they find it “difficult to believe that an investigation with evidence of Mr. Homan accepting $50,000 cash in a bag — documented by audio and/or video recording — could have been found to lack ‘credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.'”
Patel and Bondi have said the accusations against Homan are baseless and were reviewed fully by the FBI and the DOJ.
