White House backs ‘border czar’ after reports he accepted cash during undercover FBI probe last year

WASHINGTON AP The White House stood behind edge czar Tom Homan on Monday following reports that he had accepted from undercover agents posing as businesspeople during an undercover FBI operation last year leading to a bribery research that was shut down by the Trump administration Justice Department White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized Homan s encounter with the undercover agents as an effort by the Biden administration to entrap one of the president s top allies and supporters someone who they knew very well would be taking a ruling body position The White House and the president stand by Tom Homan because he did absolutely nothing wrong and he is a brave population servant who has done a phenomenal job in helping the president shut down the boundary she revealed MSNBC first informed Saturday that Homan had accepted the cash during a encounter with undercover agents who were posing as businesspeople seeking leadership contracts that Homan suggested he could help them get in a second Trump term Two people familiar with the review who were not authorized to discuss a sensitive law enforcement inquiry by name proven details of it to The Associated Press on Monday The Trump administration Justice Department which shut down the probe commented the matter was subjected to a full review but agents unveiled no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing Without providing evidence the White House criticized the Biden administration research as politically motivated The Department s support must remain focused on real threats to the American people not baseless investigations FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche mentioned in a report As a effect the analysis has been closed Leavitt insisted to reporters during a briefing Monday that Homan never took the you re referring to though she did not elaborate what she meant The revelation has sparked fresh concerns about political interference in Justice Department matters at a time Trump s calls for prosecutions of his adversaries is testing the law enforcement agency s long tradition of independence when it comes to prosecutorial decision-making Trump escalated his pressure campaign on the Justice Department over the weekend publicly calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to move forward with cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James former FBI Director James Comey and U S Sen Adam Schiff See what happened to Tom Homan his margin czar who literally accepted a bag of cash and the research was dropped once Trump became president Democratic Sen Chris Murphy explained on ABC News There are just two standards of justice now in this country If you are a friend of the president a loyalist of the president you can get away with nearly anything but if you are an opponent of the president you may find yourself in jail Homan came under Justice Department scrutiny after a target of a separate assessment suggested Homan was soliciting bribes one of the people who verified details of the analysis reported the AP A second person explained law enforcement functionaries had had internal discussions dating back to last year about the strength of a probable bribery episode and the relevant laws that might come into play White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson disclosed Homan has not been involved with any contract award decisions This blatantly political review which identified no evidence of illegal activity is yet another example of how the Biden Department of Justice was using its tools to target President Trump s allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country Jackson stated in a message Homan has been a key figure behind Trump s hardline immigration policies and deportation efforts serving as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the first Trump administration Shortly after Trump s presidential achievement in November the president reported that Homan would serve as dividing line czar in the incoming administration Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this assessment Source