In Front of Our Noses: The Endless Grift
Allegations of shutting down an investigation.
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.
For previous entries, click here.
First, the basic summary via The Guardian: Trump border czar Tom Homan reportedly accepted $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents.
The FBI reportedly recorded Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover agents who were posing as business contractors last year.
A new report from MSNBC on Saturday reveals that the agents recorded Homan, six weeks before the 2024 election, allegedly promising to assist in securing government contracts across the border security industry during Trump’s second term.
Six sources familiar with the matter told MSNBC that the FBI and justice department – then run by Joe Biden’s administration – had intended to hold off and assess whether Homan would follow through on his alleged promises after he was appointed as Trump’s border czar. However, the investigation stalled after Trump took office, and in recent weeks, officials appointed by Trump decided to close the case, according to MSNBC.
According to the sources, a justice department official who was appointed by Trump called the case a “deep state” investigation.
The $50k was allegedly given to Homan in a Cava bag, as one does with all serious and totally above-board financial transactions!
From the more detailed MSNBC report.
MSNBC asked legal experts about a hypothetical situation similar to the Homan probe. They said a person who promises to influence federal contracts when they become a public official can’t be charged under the federal bribery statutes until they are named or appointed to such a post. If the person did get the administration job and then reaffirmed his promise or communicated in some way about his plan to deliver on his agreement, investigators could make a strong bribery case.
It is still a crime, however, for anyone to seek money to improperly influence federal contracts, the legal experts said, whether they are a public official or not, and whether they ever delivered on their promise or not. People in this category could be charged with conspiracy or fraud, they say.
“If someone who is not yet a public official, but expects to be, takes bribes in exchange for agreeing to take official acts after they are appointed, they can’t be charged with bribery,” said Randall Eliason, the former chief of public corruption prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. and former white-collar law professor. “But they can be charged with conspiracy to commit bribery. In a conspiracy charge, the crime is the agreement to commit a criminal act in the future.”
On Nov. 11, 2024, President Trump announced he would make Homan his border czar, a White House adviser role, which — unlike the job of director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — did not require Senate confirmation or an extensive FBI background check.
Several FBI and Justice Department officials believed Homan’s acceptance of the cash provided strong evidence that they should continue to pursue after Homan took public office. The Public Integrity Section, a squad of seasoned public corruption prosecutors typically assigned to sensitive cases involving elected and other high-profile figures, agreed to join the case in late November 2024, according to documents reviewed by MSNBC.
Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, however, in either late January or February 2025, former acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was briefed on the case and told Justice Department officials he did not support the investigation, according to two people familiar with the case.
Yes, that Emil Bove.
Recognizing that all of this is in the realm of allegations, it is not hard for me at all to believe that Tom Homan would accept a bag of cash in exchange for steering contracts a particular direction, nor is it hard for me to believe that Trump officials would quash any such investigation.
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The corruption flows from the top. If Trump is allowed to corruptly enrich himself why shouldn’t the henchfolk get in on the action? If the President is able to break the law when he wants to, why should anyone else follow it? Trump has led the country into an ethical Gangster World where nothing matters except what you can get away with.
If Homan faces any consequences for this, he will receive the due process that he denied to Abrego Garcia and others.
I fear it will be easier to fix the legal side of this than to beat back the cultural contagion of elite impunity.
I read that the FBI sting operation was really just an audition for the Trump administration and Homan passed with flying colors.
( i don’t have to tell you this is snark, do i ?)
The random references to Spiro Agnew in the Simpsons amounted to nothing — he was a meta-joke about a joke that utterly misses the audience.
Imagine a world in which the Simpsons treated it as a learning opportunity. Nothing major would change, but Spiro Agnew jokes would be back, baby!
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The Rachel Maddow podcast “Bagman” is a great listen. I’m glad there’s going to be another season in a few years. There’s even a literal bag of cash!
Did the FBI. Get the money back?
Did the FBI. Get the money back?
Bribery is not a crime if you just pocket the money and do nothing in return! I wish I was in a position now to act on that principle. I bet a lot of those international students … anyway enough about that.
One would have thought, however, it was grounds for dismissal from government service by a man with the high ethical standards of President Trump, who cannot even abide the presence in his administration of a Reserve Bank governor who was falsely accused of mortgage fraud.