Over the weekend, news broke that President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who conveniently occupies a made-up job that does not require Senate confirmation, had been probed by both the Department of Justice and the FBI for allegedly taking $50,000 in cash from undercover agents posing as contractors.
Homan will almost certainly never see any consequences for accepting this apparent bribe, and while he owes the biggest debt to Trump’s DOJ, which reportedly killed the investigation, he should also send the Supreme Court a thank-you note. He couldn’t have done it without them.
In any other administration, this would be a five-alarm fire. But in Trump’s White House, it’s just run-of-the-mill corruption. The White House straight-up denied that Homan took the $50,000, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doing her typical “you fools, you rubes, how dare you!” act for reporters, sneering, “Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 that you’re referring to, so you should get your facts straight.”
Sure, except that’s not exactly what Homan himself is saying.
For whatever reason—hubris? stupidity? feeling bulletproof?—Homan isn’t denying it. He’s just saying that there’s no problem, man.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House on July 7.
“Look, I did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal,” Homan said. “It’s hit piece after hit piece after hit piece and I’m glad the FBI and DOJ came out and said, you know, said that nothing illegal happened, no criminal activity.”
Homan is technically correct. Trump’s corruption-fueled DOJ and FBI apparently did indeed kill the investigation, so Homan obviously owes a lot to Trump and his extremely laissez-faire attitude toward corruption.
However, the investigation into Homan’s actions likely wouldn’t have stalled out long enough to await Trump’s reelection if it weren’t for a little Supreme Court ditty from 2016, McDonnell v. U.S.
In McDonnell, a bribery case involving former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, the Supreme Court significantly narrowed what counts as an “official act” for purposes of federal bribery statutes. Now an official act has to involve some sort of formal exercise of governmental power on something specific that is pending before that public official.
So, here’s the problem. It’s likely that one of the reasons the investigation into Homan stalled out during the Biden administration is that Homan wasn’t yet a public official at the time, as Trump had not yet been reelected. And under the narrowed McDonnell definition of “official acts,” the DOJ might have had to sit on its hands and wait and see if Homan committed an “official act” of bribery.
Of course, when Trump won the 2024 election, it became clear that Homan, with his unique brand of thuggish xenophobia, would have a place in the administration—and therefore the opportunity to act on whatever that $50,000 was supposed to pay for.
The DOJ had continued to monitor Homan even after Trump’s election and was considering multiple criminal charges, but then, under Trump’s DOJ, the whole thing just got shut down. In a neat little circle of corruption, it looks like Emil Bove helped with this effort, and Bove is now untouchable thanks to his lifetime appointment as a federal appeals court judge.
Now, shame where shame is due: McDonnell was a unanimous decision, so that part can’t be laid entirely at the feet of the conservative justices. On the other hand, the incredible gift of immunity the right-wing jurists bestowed on Trump is entirely their fault.
Because here’s the thing. If not for that immunity decision, Trump might not have gotten back into office. But even if he had managed to, absent that cloak of protection, he likely couldn’t be as emboldened in his disregard for the law or any consequences. And really, what real harm can come to anyone in Trump’s orbit now? Trump’s immune, he’s the president, and he can just shut down investigations or, failing that, pardon everyone.
Thanks, Chief Justice John Roberts!
