A White House spokesperson Monday strongly denied that President Donald Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, accepted money from undercover FBI agents last year at a time he did not hold an official government job.
The New York Times reported Saturday that Homan was recorded in September 2024 accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash in an undercover FBI investigation during the Biden administration.
The probe was later shut down by Trump administration officials.
During Monday's press briefing at the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether Homan would "have to return the $50,000?"
"Well, Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 that you're referring to, so you should get your facts straight, No. 1," Leavitt told the reporter. "No. 2, this was another example of the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice against one of President Trump's strongest and most vocal supporters in the midst of a presidential campaign."
"You had FBI agents going undercover to try and entrap one of the president's top allies and supporters, someone who they knew very well would be taking a government position months later."
Leavitt added that Homan "did absolutely nothing wrong."
"Even the president's Department of Justice, even [Director] Kash Patel's FBI looked into this just to make sure. They had a number of prosecutors and FBI agents who looked into this," she said.
"They found zero evidence of illegal activity or criminal wrongdoing in the White House, and the president stands by Tom Homan 100% because he did absolutely nothing wrong. And he is a brave public servant who has done a phenomenal job in helping the president shut down the border."
The Times, citing sources, reported that the $50,000 cash payment was made via a bag from the food chain Cava.
The newspaper added the FBI probe grew out of a lengthy counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Homan.
The Trump administration shut down the case because of doubts about whether prosecutors could prove Homan had agreed to do any specific acts in exchange for the money, the Times reported.