House Democrats want to know how the White House handled bribery allegations against border czar Tom Homan.
The Democrats’ questions are part of a probe into what they call the administration’s “pattern of abusing its prosecutorial and law enforcement functions.”
Reports last month said Mr. Homan accepted $50,000 in a brown Cava bag from agents posing as businesspeople during an undercover FBI operation last year. The agents pretended to seek government contracts that Mr. Homan had supposedly said he could secure during President Trump’s second term.
The operation led to a bribery investigation into Mr. Homan, but it was shut down by the Trump Justice Department.
A letter sent from Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee to Associate Attorney General Edmund Woodward on Wednesday said they had written to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel about the reports and never received a response.
“We write now to follow up and demand that you answer fundamental questions: Who knew about the Homan cash bribery scandal, when did they know it, and why was Mr. Homan appointed ’Border Czar’ even in the face of such damning evidence of his taking bribes for government contracts?” they wrote.
The letter noted that Mr. Woodward led the vetting process of potential candidates to join the Trump administration.
Axios first reported the letter.
“The timeline of events during that transition provides a troubling picture,” they wrote.
The lawmakers said that under standard vetting procedure, the FBI would have notified the Justice Department about the criminal investigation into Mr. Homan and the DOJ would have notified the Trump transition team.
“We have every reason to believe the normal process was followed here,” they wrote. “That means the Trump team knew that its ‘Border Czar’ nominee was under active FBI investigation for accepting a cash bribe in a paper bag, and, nonetheless, President Trump proceeded to formally appoint Mr. Homan to the role.”
The letter added, “It accordingly appears that the decision to kill the investigation was pre-ordained from the moment Mr. Trump decided to proceed with Mr. Homan’s appointment despite overwhelming evidence that he was guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery and sell government contracts for his personal enrichment.”
The lawmakers sent seven questions to be answered by Oct. 22, including whether the transition team was informed about the investigation, why Mr. Trump decided to move forward with Mr. Homan’s appointment, and if any other appointments involved people with similar investigations.
The Justice Department had said the issue was “subjected to a full review” and that officials 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,” Mr. Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “As a result, the investigation has been closed.”
Mr. Homan has denied wrongdoing. In an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Mr. Homan said he “did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last month, “The White House and the president stand 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.”
She added, “Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 you’re referring to. … This is 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.”
Ms. Bondi was grilled about the allegations during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. She said the FBI cleared Mr. Homan of any criminal wrongdoing. To subsequent questions, she said the issue was completed before she was sworn in and referred other questions to the FBI.
Abigail Jackson, the White House deputy press secretary, said of the latest Democratic salvo, “This blatantly political investigation, which found no evidence of illegal activity, 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. Tom Homan has not been involved with any contract award decisions. 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.”
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.