Virginia Tax Officials Should Investigate Border Czar Tom Homan for Alleged $50,000 Cash Payment from Undercover FBI Agents
November 6, 2026
Groups ask Commonwealth of Virginia to analyze alleged cash gift, just like they would for anyone else
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three nonpartisan good government and anti-corruption organizations — Public Integrity Project, Common Cause and Democracy Defenders Fund — called on the Virginia Department of Taxation to examine an alleged $50,000 cash payment to Thomas D. Homan, current assistant to the president and border czar and previous private consultant.
Homan reportedly accepted the cash in a CAVA bag from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives in September 2024. Homan reportedly indicated to the agents that he could help secure government contracts for them in the second Trump administration. Homan first denied doing “anything criminal,” and then denied taking the money altogether.
The Trump administration has largely dismantled the Department of Justice’s teams for prosecuting public corruption, and the investigation against Homan was reportedly closed. But, as the signers to today’s letter explain, state officials can pursue potential corruption even when federal officials will not.
At the time Homan reportedly accepted the cash payment, his consulting firm was organized under Virginia law and domiciled in Virginia, where Homan also resided. The financial disclosure form he filed upon joining the Trump administration indicates he earned $360,000 from his consulting company in 2024, but does not specifically note receipt, return, loan or donation of the $50,000 in question.
If Homan kept the money, it should be considered taxable income, regardless of its source. Virginia law requires that the Commonwealth investigate any possible tax omission (Virginia Code § 58.1-1812(A)).
“No public official is above the law, and no one should receive special treatment or exemptions regardless of their position,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of ethics and anti-corruption at Democracy Defenders Fund. “If a high-ranking federal official like Tom Homan has accepted substantial cash payments that went unreported, those transactions deserve the same scrutiny and accountability that would apply to any Virginia taxpayer.”
“If the Department of Justice is unwilling to fight tax evasion, states and cities can,” said Brendan Ballou, CEO of the Public Integrity Project. “This is a chance for state officials to be leaders in the fight against the corruption that Americans across the political spectrum want investigated and pursued.”
“Tom Homan must be treated like any other Virginia taxpayer,” said Abigail Bellows, Common Cause senior policy director for anti-corruption and accountability. “No one should be above the law, regardless of who they know or what their job is. On behalf of our members in Virginia, we urge the fair application of the law to all taxpayers.”
The coalition submitted a letter to Virginia’s Tax Commissioner on Nov. 6, laying out the publicly available details of this matter. Investigations into individual taxpayers are confidential. But the public can and should expect state authorities, in Virginia and elsewhere, to use all available tools to hold public officials to the same standards as every other taxpayer.
Read the full letter here.
# # #
Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.
For media inquiries, contact press@democracydefenders.org.
