Throughout the Trump administration, a top-down culture of corruption has set the stage for a staggering rise in conflicts of interest violations, pay-to-play favors, and a lack of transparency.
Now, one of the highest-ranking members of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — the Trump administration's so-called border czar — appears to be hiding information from the public.
Campaign Legal Center is calling for an Inspector General and Office of Government Ethics (OGE) investigation into whether senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Tom Homan purposefully hid a $50,000 contribution from his financial disclosures, despite public reporting that he received the money.
Tom Homan allegedly accepted $50,000 cash to assist prospective government contractors.
According to public reporting from several major outlets, Tom Homan was recorded on film accepting a bag of $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents during a September 2024 investigation of whether Homan was soliciting payments in exchange for government contracts.
Specifically, the money was reported to have been accepted from agents posing as businessmen seeking future government contracts if Homan was to return to the administration if President Trump was reelected.
The investigation has since been closed. However, financial disclosure reports filed by Homan show no record of a $50,000 transaction.
Regardless of the status of the criminal investigation into any alleged wrongdoing, members of the federal executive branch are required by law to completely and accurately file financial disclosure reports to preserve the public’s trust in government.
Following such extensive reporting that a transaction did happen, the OGE and DHS Inspectors General Office have a legal obligation to investigate whether Homan purposefully omitted this amount from his disclosures.
If so, the law must be enforced, and Homan must be held accountable.
Homan’s senior advisor disclosed receiving $50,000 and allegedly assisted the source with government contracts.
Homan is not the only example of a senior executive branch official who potentially flouted the ethical standards we expect our public officials to meet.
Campaign Legal Center also is calling for the DHS Inspectors General Office to investigate Homan’s Senior Advisor, Mark Hall, who may have violated ethics laws by participating in contracting decisions at DHS that involved his former employer, Charles Sowell and SES Solutions.
Hall disclosed receiving $50,000 in January 2025 from the former employer before he joined DHS the following month. He allegedly assisted the former employer with the bid contract of one of its clients a few months later.
As a senior official, Hall is expected to make decisions impartially and solely in the best interest of the public.
If he was involved in contracting decisions that could stand to benefit a former employer, it raises serious questions on whether that decision making is actually impartial or potentially swayed to benefit the bottom line of Hall’s former employer.
These officials hold some of the most powerful positions in government and are responsible for implementing and enforcing laws passed by Congress and signed into action by the president. Their decisions impact the everyday lives of Americans, which is why the public deserves to know what financial conflicts they bring to the table.
Government by the People, for the People
These are just two examples of a concerning trend: President Trump has opened the door to corruption across the executive branch, where wealthy special interests can leverage influence, relationships or even cold hard cash to make the government work for them.
Transparency is at the heart of a healthy democracy: Americans have a right to know that their government is working in their best interest and deserve an accurate depiction of the financial interests of their public officials.
When officials act in secrecy and hide information, Americans are left wondering if their actions are for the public good or simply for the politicians’ personal gain.
Campaign Legal Center will continue to spotlight appearances of corruption and call for independent ethics investigators to deliver accountability when the law is broken. Moreover, we’re working to advance legal and policy solutions that uphold accountability for public officials.
Support our efforts today to hold government officials accountable when they put their own interests before those of the American people.
