A new investigative report alleges that senior officials in Donald Trump's administration worked to bypass standard security clearance procedures for his border czar, Tom Homan, despite him being the target of an FBI bribery investigation.
Allegations of Interference in Security Vetting
The report, published by MS NOW on Tuesday 30 December 2025, claims that information about the FBI probe into Homan was passed to Emil Bove just days before Bove's appointment as acting deputy attorney general in early January 2025. Bove, who previously served as Trump's personal attorney, then acted as a key liaison between the government and the presidential transition team.
According to the investigation, Bove and other top Trump transition officials ensured the FBI's bribery inquiry did not disrupt Homan's background check process. This information reached them in early January, shortly before the inauguration and weeks later than it typically would have emerged during standard clearance procedures.
The delay was reportedly caused because Trump's team did not submit Homan's name, along with other incoming officials, to the FBI to begin background checks until December 2024. This was a full month later than the usual timeline.
The Core of the FBI Bribery Investigation
At the heart of the controversy are allegations that Homan was caught on video accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents. The agents were posing as businessmen seeking contracts related to immigration enforcement under a potential second Trump administration.
MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, first reported on the existence of this video in September 2025. The footage has not been made public, and both the White House and Homan have denied its existence, claiming the exchange never happened.
Despite FBI agents believing Homan would be unable to pass a standard background check, he was ultimately hired as the White House border czar, officially titled the "White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations." It remains unclear how he obtained the necessary security clearance.
Political Reactions and a Pattern of Alleged Favouritism
The report states the FBI investigation into Homan began in early 2024 under the Biden administration but was shut down by the Justice Department in the summer of 2025. This was months after Trump took office and after Bove and FBI Director Kash Patel had reportedly "registered their displeasure" with the case continuing.
Democrats in Congress have demanded hearings. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote in September: "No one is above the law. The American people deserve to know why President Trump’s so-called Border Czar allegedly used his position and influence to take bribes."
However, Republican control of both congressional chambers has prevented any formal summons for Homan to testify. Senator Chris Murphy, a leading Democrat, argued the case exemplifies a dual standard of justice, stating: "If you are a friend of the president, a loyalist of the president you can get away with nearly anything."
The report connects Homan's case to other instances where Trump's allies received favourable treatment from the justice system, including the dismissal of a criminal case against Boeing and the ending of a prosecution against former Republican congressman Jeff Fortenberry shortly after Trump's inauguration.
Meanwhile, Homan has been central to Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. A Department of Homeland Security release in mid-December 2025 claimed over 600,000 deportations had occurred so far that year, with a further 2.5 million "illegal aliens" departing voluntarily—a figure unconfirmed by independent experts.
