Last month, Pam Bondi suspiciously ducked and dodged Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s questions about what happened to the $50,000 in cash Trump border czar Tom Homan accepted in an FBI undercover sting operation? Homan received the dough after telling undercover FBI agents that he could help them win government contracts in a second Trump administration.
Of course, the sting was under the Biden administration and the case was dropped by Trump’s “Department of Justice.” Trump’s DOJ claimed it had made a “full review” that found “no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing.” Sure, Pam.
Fortunately, Sens. Whitehouse, Adam Schiff and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal are not taking Bondi’s snarky evasions for answers. After being stonewalled by Trump’s DOJ for the “full investigative file,” the three senators filed a Freedom of Information Act request. Sometimes a FOIA request is a quicker way to get answers, Schiff explained on MS Now Tuesday night.
“What normally happens with this kind of cash in undercover operations like this?” host Lawrence O’Donnell asked.
If there’s a prosecution, the money would be held as evidence, Schiff replied. “The question is, did [the FBI or DOJ] ever get the money back” from Homan “or did he just get this $50,000 bribe, gift from the FBI?”
Since Senate Republicans seem unwilling to engage in serious oversight, Democrats Whitehouse, Schiff and Richard Blumenthal have picked up the slack via FOIA.
Schiff pointed out, as you can see in the video below, that Bondi did not deny that Homan got the cash. Schiff also noted that Homan, himself, did not deny taking the cash.
So, if Homan got the cash and the DOJ let him keep it, did he declare it on his tax returns? The Democrats’ FOIA request also asks for access to his tax returns.
