On October 12, 2025, the political temperature in Washington soared as Vice President JD Vance faced off against ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in a tense, nationally televised interview on "This Week." The focal point? Explosive allegations that White House border czar Tom Homan accepted a $50,000 bribe in September 2024—a story that has dominated headlines, split public opinion, and triggered a fierce debate over media priorities and political accountability.
The interview opened with Stephanopoulos zeroing in on the heart of the controversy. With cameras rolling, he pressed Vance: "The White House border czar, Tom Homan, was recorded on an FBI surveillance tape in September 2024 accepting $50,000 in cash. Did he keep that money or give it back?" The question referred to an undercover FBI operation in which agents, posing as business executives, allegedly handed Homan a bag full of cash in exchange for help securing government contracts—if former President Trump returned to office. The alleged transaction, according to multiple reports cited by The New York Times and PoliticusUSA, was caught on both audio and video tape.
Vance, however, refused to give a direct answer. Instead, he launched into a defense of Homan, dismissing the allegations as a "ridiculous smear" and suggesting that the media's focus on the case was politically motivated. "George, you’ve covered this story ad nauseam. Tom Homan did not take a bribe. It’s a ridiculous smear. And the reason you guys are going after Tom Homan so aggressively is because he’s doing the job of enforcing the law. I think it’s really preposterous. I know Tom. I think that he’s a good man. He gets death threats, he gets attacked, he gets constantly threatened by people because he has the audacity to want to enforce the country’s immigration laws. I think that it would be a much more interesting story about why is it that Tom Homan, who is simply enforcing America’s immigration laws, is constantly harassed and threatened to the point of death threats. That’s a much more interesting question that I think journalists should focus on. We can agree to disagree on that question," Vance declared, according to PoliticusUSA.
But Stephanopoulos wasn’t letting go. He pushed Vance further, asking whether Homan kept or returned the $50,000, and questioned the apparent double standard in the Trump administration’s response to allegations of corruption. "It’s not a weird left-wing rabbit hole! I didn’t insinuate anything, I asked you whether Tom Homan accepted $50,000 as was heard on an audio tape recorded by the FBI in September 2024, and you did not answer the question," Stephanopoulos retorted, as reported by The Daily Beast. The exchange grew increasingly heated, with Vance insisting that the true scandal was the government shutdown and the struggles it was causing for low-income Americans and military families, rather than what he characterized as a "fake scandal" targeting Homan.
The tension reached a breaking point when Stephanopoulos abruptly ended the interview, cutting Vance off mid-sentence and announcing, "We’ll be right back." The move, described by The Daily Beast as an "abrupt cut off," left viewers buzzing and the White House fuming. It wasn’t the first time Stephanopoulos had found himself in the crosshairs of the Trump camp—just months earlier, he and ABC News had settled a high-profile lawsuit with Trump over on-air statements related to the E. Jean Carroll case, resulting in a $15 million payment to Trump’s presidential library and $1 million in legal fees.
In the aftermath of the broadcast, Vance took to the social platform X to vent his frustration. He accused Stephanopoulos of ignoring more pressing national and international issues—including a phase one peace deal between Israel and Hamas, the impact of Chinese restrictions on rare earth minerals, and the ongoing government shutdown—while fixating on what Vance called a "fake scandal" involving Tom Homan. "[Stephanopoulos is] here to focus on the real story: a fake scandal involving Tom Homan," Vance wrote, as cited by Nexstar Media Inc.
The origins of the Homan allegations stretch back to September 2024, when undercover FBI agents posed as businesspeople and allegedly handed Homan a cash-filled bag in exchange for promises of access to government contracts, contingent on Trump’s return to power. The sting was reportedly part of a broader corruption investigation, though Homan was not in public office at the time. According to The New York Times, the White House and Homan have consistently denied any wrongdoing, and the Justice Department closed the case after Trump took office. In September 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told The New York Times that prosecutors had found "no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing" by Homan.
Yet, the controversy refuses to die down. Critics note that while Homan has publicly proclaimed his innocence, he has not called for the release of the FBI’s audio and video recordings—evidence that, if exculpatory, could put the matter to rest. The lack of transparency has fueled speculation and left questions lingering in the public sphere. As PoliticusUSA pointed out, "Homan has proclaimed his innocence, but he has never called for the audio and video, which, if he were innocent, would exonerate him, to be released."
The interview also highlighted the broader political environment, with Vance blaming Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the government shutdown, which he said was causing low-income women to struggle to buy food and would result in military personnel missing their paychecks on October 15. "You’re focused on a bogus story, you’re insinuating criminal wrongdoing against a guy who has done nothing wrong, instead of focusing on the fact that our country is struggling because our government shut down," Vance argued, according to Nexstar Media Inc.
For their part, supporters of the Trump administration see the Homan probe as yet another politically motivated attack, designed to undermine officials who have taken a hard line on immigration. They echo Vance’s view that the media is unfairly targeting those who "enforce the law," while downplaying or ignoring other stories of national significance. On the other side, critics argue that the refusal to fully address the allegations—and the government’s decision to close the case without releasing all evidence—reflects a troubling lack of accountability at the highest levels of power.
As the dust settles from Sunday’s fiery exchange, one thing is clear: the debate over Tom Homan’s alleged bribe, the role of the media, and the priorities of America’s leaders is far from over. Whether or not the public ever sees the full FBI recordings, the incident has reignited questions about transparency, trust, and the lines between news and political theater in a deeply divided nation.
