Whitehouse Sends Tip to DOJ After Announcement of New Whistleblower Incentive Program to Combat Fraud

Whitehouse asks DOJ to investigate possible fraud by Trump White House Border Czar Tom Homan for accepting a $50,000 cash bribe from undercover FBI agents

Washington, D.C. – After the Trump administration launched an ostensible Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on Friday to the Department of Justice’s National Fraud Enforcement Division urging the Department to investigate White House Border Czar Tom Homan for possible fraud for accepting a $50,000 cash bribe from undercover FBI agents. 

Despite numerous public requests from Whitehouse and the FBI’s rigorous accounting procedures to track money used in undercover investigations, the FBI and DOJ have not provided a straight answer as to whether Homan kept the $50,000 in cash he received from FBI agents. 

“I understand that the Department of Justice has established a ‘Whistleblower Rewards Program,’ promising payments of up to $30,000 to anyone reporting fraudulent activity.  I write to report a possible fraud perpetrated by White House Border Czar Tom Homan against the U.S. government,” Whitehouse wrote in the letter.

“Last year, DOJ and the FBI confirmed public reporting that Homan had been the subject of a public corruption investigation.  He was recorded in 2024 accepting a $50,000 bribe from undercover officers in exchange for offering to secure government contracts should Donald Trump win the presidential election.  After Homan assumed his position in the Trump White House, DOJ and the FBI closed the investigation,” added Whitehouse.  “We still do not know what became of the $50,000 in taxpayer money Homan accepted during the sting.”

“Accordingly, I ask that you investigate whether Homan pocketed the $50,000 in taxpayer funds.  I will even forgo the $30,000 in whistleblower reward money, resulting in a total savings of $80,000 for the American people,” concluded Whitehouse.

In September 2025, Whitehouse joined Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) and all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in a letter asking then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the FBI’s full investigative file regarding the public corruption investigation into Tom Homan.  In November 2025, Senators Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) filed a batch of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to DOJ, including one seeking all records on the FBI’s Homan investigation.

Full text of the letter is below and a PDF is available here. 

October 23, 2026

The Honorable Colin McDonald

Assistant Attorney General

National Fraud Enforcement Division

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20530

Dear Assistant Attorney General McDonald:

I understand that the Department of Justice has established a “Whistleblower Rewards Program,” promising payments of up to $30,000 to anyone reporting fraudulent activity.  I write to report a possible fraud perpetrated by White House Border Czar Tom Homan against the U.S. government.

Last year, DOJ and the FBI confirmed public reporting that Homan had been the subject of a public corruption investigation.  He was recorded in 2024 accepting a $50,000 bribe from undercover officers in exchange for offering to secure government contracts should Donald Trump win the presidential election.  After Homan assumed his position in the Trump White House, DOJ and the FBI closed the investigation.

We still do not know what became of the $50,000 in taxpayer money Homan accepted during the sting.  Homan reportedly told the undercover agents “he would keep the bribe money in a trust until he had completed his service in the Trump administration.”  He later denied taking the money altogether.  I’ve repeatedly asked DOJ and FBI officials where the $50,000 went, and have never received a straight answer.  Getting one should not be difficult, given that the FBI maintains rigorous accounting procedures to track money used in undercover investigations.

Accordingly, I ask that you investigate whether Homan pocketed the $50,000 in taxpayer funds.  I will even forgo the $30,000 in whistleblower reward money, resulting in a total savings of $80,000 for the American people. 

Sincerely,

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