How Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, wound up ensnared in an FBI contracts-for-cash sting
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, became entangled in an FBI sting last year after an associate of his suggested to undercover FBI agents that Homan could facilitate future government contracts in exchange for big money, according to four sources familiar with the investigation and a government document.
Julian “Jace” Calderas, a former U.S. immigration official who worked under Homan in the Obama administration, allegedly proposed to the agents — who were posing as businessmen — that Homan, in exchange for $1 million, could help them win lucrative federal contracts if Donald Trump became president again, according to an internal Justice Department document describing the investigation reviewed by MSNBC.
Calderas, co-owner of a detention services and government contracting firm in Texas, first allegedly proposed the scheme in May 2023. He held several subsequent conversations with the agents about his cash-for-contracts proposal, culminating in a Sept. 20, 2024, meeting in Dallas at which agents recorded Homan accepting $50,000 in cash, according to the document and sources.
At that same meeting, the document shows, Calderas accepted $10,000 from the undercover FBI agents. His alleged proposal to undercover FBI agents, which had not been previously reported, led to a full-blown Justice Department investigation of Homan, who at the time was a private consultant helping clients obtain government contracts. [Continue reading…]