MaddowBlog-As the Tom Homan controversy intensifies, why doesn't the FBI just release the tapes?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The White House says Homan didn’t take $50,000 in cash from undercover agents. The FBI recorded the interaction, and it can simply release the tapes.

Despite the available evidence, the White House says border czar Tom Homan didn’t take ,000 in cash in a Cava bag from undercover FBI agents.

So why doesn’t the FBI resolve the matter and simply release the tapes? www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-23T13:00:00.479Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/tom-homan-controversy-intensifies-doesnt-fbi-just-release-tapes-rcna233144

The White House official sat down with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday night, and the host offered him an opportunity to deny the underlying allegations. Homan’s on-air comments, however, fell far short of resolving the matter.

Ingraham: “They said that you took ,000 in cash in a bag from an undercover FBI agent to help them win government contracts in Trump's second term…I imagine you want to respond to that.”

Homan: “I did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal.”

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2025-09-23T00:09:07.192Z

“I did nothing criminal,” he said. “I did nothing illegal.”

Perhaps, but Homan made no effort to deny, directly or indirectly, the reporting that he accepted $50,000 in cash in a Cava bag from undercover FBI agents.

Hours earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added a wrinkle that was likely intended to help her colleague, but seemed to have the opposite effect.

Q: Did the president ask the DOJ to close the Homan investigation and does he have to return the ,000

LEAVITT: Mr. Homan never took the ,000, so you should get your facts straight ... you had FBI agents going undercover to try and entrap one of the president's top allies and supporters

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-09-22T17:34:09.960Z

The trouble is, Leavitt’s assertion that Homan “never took the $50,000” was a new claim — the White House didn’t include this detail in its original denial — and as MSNBC reported soon after, the claim appears to conflict with everything that’s known about the case.

Fortunately, this can all be resolved quickly and effectively. As MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian explained online, “To settle this, it would be great if the White House would release the case files and any FBI recordings of Homan’s meetings with undercover agents posing as businessmen.”.....

None of this has escaped the attention of Democratic lawmakers. “The act was caught on camera,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts noted. “The administration must turn over the tapes to Congress.” Similarly, Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan demanded access to the FBI case file.

“Release the Epstein files” has been a common mantra for quite a while. “Release the Homan tapes” is just getting started.