The Department of Justice shut down an investigation involving President Donald Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, in which he had been recorded allegedly accepting cash from FBI agents posing as business executives, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The sting operation, which stemmed from a broader public corruption probe that did not initially target Homan, led agents to an encounter in which they recorded Homan allegedly accepting a bag containing $50,000 in cash while agreeing to potentially help the men obtain government contracts in the event Trump won the 2024 election, the sources said.
The investigation, started during the Biden administration, was handed over to the Trump administration. Officials briefed Justice Department leadership about it in the early days of Trump’s presidency as part of their ongoing efforts to vet personnel who had been appointed to senior leadership posts in his administration, the sources said.
Investigators at the time were still working to determine whether Homan would have followed through on arranging the government contracts, as some in the Justice Department questioned the legal viability of charges in a scenario where Homan had proposed the government contract when Trump’s election victory wasn’t yet guaranteed, according to the sources.
The investigation, first reported by MSNBC and The New York Times, began in 2024 and was based out of the Western District of Texas.
The Homan encounter was recorded by the undercover agents and the probe stretched into the Trump administration, where internal discussions were held over whether charges were warranted before the DOJ and FBI shut it down, the sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The shuttering of the investigation, which was formalized in the early days of the Trump administration, has raised concerns among current and former officials about the Trump administration further politicizing the Justice Department by protecting high-profile officials from legal scrutiny.
ABC News requests for comment from the Justice Department, FBI and White House did not receive a response. Homan also didn't immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.
However, in a statement to ABC News, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the probe and said it "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," Patel and Blanche said in their statement to ABC News.
White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson criticized the probe as a "blatantly political investigation, which found no evidence of illegal activity, [and] 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."
Jackson further said Homan has not been involved in any decisions by the White House to award government contracts.
"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," Jackson added.