Tom Homan, who was later named President Trump's border czar, was recorded in September 2024 accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash in an undercover F.B.I. investigation, according to people familiar with the case, which was later shut down by Trump administration officials.

The cash payment, which was made inside a bag from the food chain Cava, grew out of a long-running counterintelligence investigation that had not been targeting Mr. Homan, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the case.

Mr. Homan's encounter with the undercover agents, recorded on audiotape, led him to be investigated for potential bribery and other crimes, after apparently taking the money and agreeing to help the agents -- who were posing as businessmen -- secure future government contracts related to border security, they said.

After President Trump took office this year, Justice Department officials shut down the case because of doubts about whether prosecutors could prove to a jury that Mr. Homan had agreed to do any specific acts in exchange for the money, and because he had not held an official government position at the time of the meeting with undercover agents, the people said.

One person familiar with the case said the evidence gathered had not met all the necessary elements of relevant federal crimes, while another contended that the case was effectively ended prematurely, before such additional evidence could be gathered.

Justice Department officials ultimately decided that the evidence against Mr. Homan was insufficient to support charges of wire fraud, bribery or conspiracy, the people said. Emil Bove III, a former senior Justice Department official and onetime personal attorney for Mr. Trump who is now a federal appeals court judge, expressed skepticism about the case as early as February, one person said. The existence of the investigation was reported earlier Saturday by MSNBC.

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It remains unclear whether the investigation into Mr. Homan would have been dropped regardless of which party controlled the White House, given recent Supreme Court rulings that delineated a high bar for what constitutes a bribe or other corrupt act. But the revelation about the inquiry and the decision to shut it down comes amid broader fights over the degree of control Mr. Trump holds over how the Justice Department handles criminal cases, particularly those related to his perceived enemies.

The episode raises questions about whether the administration has sought to shield one of its own officials from legal consequences, and whether Mr. Homan's actions were considered by the White House when he was appointed to his government role.

Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, and Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement on Saturday that the investigation "was subjected to a full review by F.B.I. agents and Justice Department prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing."

They added that the Justice Department "must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed."

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Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, called the Homan case a "blatantly political investigation," and said it showed the administration "was using its resources to target President Trump's allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country."

Ms. Jackson added that Mr. Homan "has not been involved with any contract award decisions," calling him "a lifelong public servant who is doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country."

Mr. Homan did not respond to requests for comment. He told The New York Times earlier this year that he would not get involved with specific contract decisions.

In the first Trump administration, Mr. Homan served as the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After leaving government, he emerged as a vocal critic of the Biden administration's policies, in his role as a paid contributor on Fox News. He founded an organization called the Border911 Foundation, whose mission was "to educate Americans on what it means to have a secure, well-managed border -- and why it matters."

He also opened a consulting business that has worked for companies seeking immigration-related contracts, including those poised to benefit from Mr. Trump's policies, The Times reported in January. At one point, he was paid between $100,000 and $150,000 to lobby in Texas for Fisher Industries, a construction firm that last year secured a $225 million contract with the state to build a section of border wall.

Mr. Homan made it clear that he planned to rejoin Mr. Trump in government if he were re-elected. "I promised President Trump when he announced that if he goes back, I go back," he wrote on social media in November 2023. "And I'm going to run the biggest deportation operation this country's ever seen."

He was drawn into the F.B.I. case after a target of the investigation suggested in 2023, on his own initiative, that a $1 million payment to Mr. Homan could lead to lucrative federal contracts for border security work, according to people familiar with the matter.

Undercover agents posing as businessmen seeking contracts met with Mr. Homan in September 2024, these people said.

On the tape of that meeting, Mr. Homan seemed to agree to help the undercover agents secure contracts from the next administration if Mr. Trump won re-election, the people said.

The investigation, which was originally run out of Texas, became more consequential once Mr. Trump won and the chances of Mr. Homan taking a government role increased.

On Nov. 10, Mr. Trump announced that Mr. Homan would be his administration's border czar and have wide authority over deportations.

Later that month, prosecutors with the Justice Department's public integrity division were asked to help with the investigation.

During the transition, law enforcement officials notified the incoming administration about the case as Mr. Trump's team considered whom to appoint to to government positions, the people familiar with the case said.

Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash