The Dictatorship
The former ICE officer who led the FBI to Tom Homan
Tom Homan, the White House border czar, became entangled in an FBI sting last year after an associate of his suggested to undercover FBI agents that Homan could facilitate future government contracts in exchange for big money, according to four sources familiar with the investigation and a government document.
Julian “Jace” Calderas, a former U.S. immigration official who worked under Homan in the Obama administration, allegedly proposed to the agents — who were posing as businessmen — that Homan, in exchange for $1 million, could help them win lucrative federal contracts if Donald Trump became president again, according to an internal Justice Department document describing the investigation reviewed by BLN.
Calderas, co-owner of a detention services and government contracting firm in Texas, first allegedly proposed the scheme in May 2023. He held several subsequent conversations with the agents about his cash-for-contracts proposal, culminating in a Sept. 20, 2024, meeting in Dallas at which agents recorded Homan accepting $50,000 in cash, according to the document and sources.
At that same meeting, the document shows, Calderas accepted $10,000 from the undercover FBI agents. His alleged proposal to undercover FBI agents, which had not been previously reported, led to a full-blown Justice Department investigation of Homan, who at the time was a private consultant helping clients obtain government contracts.
A former ICE officer and associate of the White House border czar sparked a full-blown criminal investigation of Homan after he proposed a contracts-for-money scheme to undercover FBI agents.
“I know nothing about this,” Calderas told BLN by phone last Monday when asked if he was aware of the criminal investigation and his alleged role in it. “If this is the case, I’m going to need to talk to my lawyer.”
Calderas then ended the call. He did not answer whether he had accepted $10,000 or whether he remembered such a meeting with Homan in Texas. He did not respond to follow-up messages or emails seeking comment from him or his lawyer. BLN reached out directly to Calderas and to his company, XFed Global, which he founded with fellow former officials from the Department of Homeland Security, according to the firm’s web site.
The White House has criticized the investigation as a politically motivated inquiry started under the Biden administration. Homan said during an interview on Fox News last Monday that he did nothing wrong, but he did not address whether he accepted the $50,000.
On Thursday, the White House dismissed the significance of internal investigative accounts describing Calderas’ role in allegedly suggesting that Homan could influence future contracts in exchange for payment. A spokesperson said the revelations did not change the White House’s view that Homan was unfairly targeted.
“This changes nothing,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said in a statement to BLN. She called the now-shuttered federal criminal probe a “blatantly political investigation, which found no evidence of illegal activity” and one she said was driven by Biden Justice Department appointees “to target President Trump’s allies.”
The Justice Department referred questions to the FBI, which declined to comment. Jackson said that Homan “has not been involved with any contract award decisions” and that he is a “doing a phenomenal job on behalf of President Trump and the country.”
Calderas’ role in the Homan investigation, which multiple sources described on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, runs counter to the Trump administration’s narrative since BLN published its initial exclusive story this month that the FBI had been investigating Homan for possible bribery.
BLN also reported that the investigation stalled after Trump became president for a second time in January. His political appointees at the FBI and Justice Department shut down the case last month.
FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in an unusual joint statement, said FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors “found no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing” by Homan and that “as a result, the investigation has been closed.”
Last Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters from her podium in the briefing room: “Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 that you’re referring to, so you should get your facts straight.”
Yet Homan, during the Fox News interview, did not specifically deny accepting the cash. “I did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal. It’s hit piece after hit piece after hit piece,” he said.
Sources familiar with the probe told BLN that the FBI felt duty-bound to begin investigating Homan after Calderas told agents in an unrelated investigation that Homan was willing to influence which companies would win federal contracts in a second Trump administration in exchange for money.
In the fall of 2024, Homan was running his own consulting firm to help contractors win border-related contracts and publicly touting that he would serve in a senior role carrying out Trump’s promised mass deportations if the GOP candidate won the election. Calderas, a former border agent and Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, could stand to benefit from his longstanding ties to Homan as CEO of the San Antonio-based XFed.
Launched in 2016, the company promotes its status as a veteran- and minority-owned business with “insider perspective” on Department of Homeland Security procurement, a lure for prospective clients seeking government contracts.
The company web site of an associate of Tom Homan who proposed a cash-for-contracts scheme to undercover FBI agents, boasts that the firm’s “operational expertise, regulatory knowledge, and small business agility makes us the ideal partner for organizations seeking to excel in the federal contracting arena.”
“Our leadership team brings unparalleled expertise from senior executive positions within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection,” its web site reads. “This insider perspective, combined with decades of operational experience managing billion-dollar federal contracts, positions XFed Global as the definitive partner for complex government contracting challenges.”
The site says those who partner or seek to consult with XFed will gain “competitive advantages” in large-scale contracts. “XFed Global’s unique combination of operational expertise, regulatory knowledge, and small business agility makes us the ideal partner for organizations seeking to excel in the federal contracting arena,” it reads.
That Calderas attended the meeting at which Homan allegedly accepted $50,000 in exchange for offering to facilitate future government contracts would have been an important factor for prosecutors. A conspiracy charge requires that more than one person enter into a corrupt agreement, and undercover federal agents can’t be part of a conspiracy.
Calderas retired from Immigration and Customs Enforcement as deputy field office director in San Antonio in 2016, when Homan worked in senior ICE leadership as executive assistant director of enforcement and removal operations.
Calderas has expressed support for Homan in public comments and on social media. And Homan served as an advisor to Calderas’ company. In 2019, Calderas publicly praised Homan on a LinkedIn profile bearing his name for “speaking truth to power” at a House Oversight hearing on the U.S. border.
That LinkedIn account, which detailed Calderas’ work experience and promoted XFed Global’s services, was deleted at some point after BLN contacted him and his lawyer last week about the contractor’s role in the federal criminal investigation of Homan.
Two years later, on the same LinkedIn page, a posting under Calderas’ name said: “Tom doing a great job of speaking truth to power! We need more of this.”
On his company’s Facebook accountwhich remained active on Monday afternoon, Calderas posted on March 30, 2017: “My retired badge arrived today. This is the badge I wore from the time DHS was created in 2003 after 9/11.” He added, “If these badges could talk they would tell some incredible stories.”
It featured a photo of a hand holding a small blue plaque containing a “retired ICE officer” badge with three lines underneath it: “Julian ‘Jace’ Calderas. Deputy Field Office Director. 30 Years Service To Country.”
Carol Leonnig is an investigative reporter and four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination, a spokesperson said late Wednesday, as two retiring Republicans on the panel dug in over President Donald Trump’s personal “anti-weaponization” deal with the government he runs.
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s decision to delay the committee vote that had been set for Thursday marks a setback for one of Trump’s highest-profile Cabinet nominees, at the hands of Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a pair of Republicans set to leave the chamber next year.
“Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” the committee spokesperson said.
Blanche’s nomination to permanently head the Department of Justice needs the support of either Cornyn or Tillis to make it out of the committee to a vote by the full Senate, assuming all Democrats remain opposed.
“Why don’t you call over the Department of Justice and tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday afternoon amid the hardening standoff over his demand that Blanche and the DOJ put in writing a commitment never to pursue the president’s prized “anti-weaponization” fund, and to clarify the terms of Trump’s personal deal with the Internal Revenue Service.
Tillis told MS NOW that the conversations were complicated by the need for the Justice Department to get “several parties” to agree on the language of the statement Cornyn and Tillis are seeking.
“What I’ve advised the chair, and I would assume Senator Cornyn said something similar, is that we’re not prepared to vote yes yet,” he added.
“The Department has been in regular communication with Committee members for weeks, and we look forward to continuing to work productively with Senators to address any concerns,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in response to the decision to postpone the committee vote.
Cornyn was set to meet with Blanche on Wednesday morning, but the meeting was called off after Blanche failed to meet the senator’s demand for written proposals to modify the controversial settlement agreement he brokered between Trump and the IRS. The Republican senator is set to leave Congress when his term ends in January after a bruising May primary loss to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Trump’s chosen candidate.
“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office. “I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem. I heard (Blanche) is going through quite nicely.”
Cornyn made clear to Blanche during his confirmation hearing that he will not get his support until he agrees to reopen and modify the settlement. Due to the committee’s narrow Republican majority, one GOP “no” vote is enough to sink Blanche’s nomination.
The senator has asked Blanche to provide proof that the proposed nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund established as part of the deal between Trump and the IRS is formally dead, and he has also demanded Blanche narrow the tax audit immunity provisions the settlement afforded to Trump and his family.
Blanche has publicly stated that his department has dropped the fund, but he and the DOJ have dodged requests from Cornyn and a federal judge to put that in writing.
After announcing his meeting with Blanche would not take place Wednesday morning, Cornyn told reporters that changes from Blanche “in a modified release form” would be acceptable, but that “for some reason … they simply refuse to do it,” referring to the DOJ.
Shortly after the meeting was called off, a Justice Department official told MS NOW that the department “provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office.”
Cornyn said that proposal was “not responsive” to his demands because it did not address the tax audit immunity provisions in the settlement, one of his key demands.
In May, Blanche signed an addendum as part of the deal that granted Trump, his family and his businesses immunity from pending IRS tax audits. That agreement, which has been decried by former IRS officials and legal experts as unlawful self-dealing, is being contested in federal court.
Cornyn noted that Blanche testified under oath that he could meet the request during his confirmation hearing.
“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or you know, go along, but they’re mistaken,” Cornyn said when asked why he thinks the DOJ could be slow-walking his request.
Kevin Frey contributed to this report.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived this week for his tour of Washington, he may have had a mission in mind.
Netanyahu needed to overcome his newly diminished stature and waning influence over his once close friend President Donald Trump as both leaders grapple with the unpopularity of a war they started together and is escaping their control.
His meeting at the White House with Trump on Tuesday, which was closed to the press, was the first face-to-face encounter between the two allies since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack against Iran on Feb. 28.
Trump gave him a muted welcome and afterwards simply described the meeting as “very good.” “Obviously, many important subjects were discussed,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Rather than an intimate one-on-one setting, the Oval Office was full of top U.S. officials — Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Netanyahu continued the full court press on the Trump administration.
Over the course of two days, in addition to seeing Trump and attending Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral at the Capitol, Netanyahu also met separately with Vance, Hegseth, and Rubio, White House and Israeli officials confirmed to MS NOW.
The Israeli prime minister’s slate of meetings with key U.S. national security officials comes at a pivotal moment in the Iran conflict as tensions escalate in the region and Americans increasingly sour on the war. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows 60% of American voters opposing U.S. military action against Iran and 74% against sending U.S. ground troops into Iran.
Not only does Trump face pressure as Republicans face an uphill battle to retain congressional control in this fall’s midterms, Netanyahu’s fate as prime minister is at stake in Israel’s upcoming September elections – and he can’t afford to lose Trump’s favor.
The talks largely focused on what to do next as Iran continues to menace shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliate against American bases in the region and launch attacks on Gulf allies.
According to a senior Israeli official who was granted anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not come to a final decision after discussing three paths forward: get a “good deal” focused on Iran’s nuclear program and enriched material, have no deal and instead continue the blockade and economic pressure, or take escalated military action.
But Netanyahu did not tell Trump what he should do – nor did he express a preference.
The senior Israeli official noted Netanyahu has not ruled out diplomacy – as long as it is coupled with “very strong pressures,” calling the push to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program “a contest of will and a contest of force.”
“There are ways of squeezing them and squeezing them and squeezing them and negotiating at the same time,” the official said.
Netanyahu did not present President Trump with new intelligence regarding the underground Iranian nuclear facility Pickaxe Mountain, per the senior Israeli official, noting the U.S. and Israel already are constantly sharing intelligence – and know where Iran’s highly enriched material is. “We don’t think it’s moved, and I think we have a pretty good grasp on that,” the official said.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Trump and Netanyahu discussed ways Israel and the U.S. can work together to stop Iran’s nuclear program and get the Strait of Hormuz open to maritime trade, the senior Israeli official said.
The two leaders also discussed a third goal: to continue to undermine the Iranian regime and “possibly create future conditions for a change in that area.” U.S. officials have backed away from pursuing paths that would overthrow the current leadership, but Netanyahu still believes that could happen.
“The chasm that has been created between the people and the regime is not about to be closed,” the senior Israeli official said of Netanyahu’s thinking.
Netanyahu advised Trump in February that Israeli intelligence indicated launching strikes against Iran would lead to the toppling of the Islamic Republic’s regime – and five months later, the slain ayatollah’s son retains power with a close circle of hardliners, calling into question the accuracy of Israel’s intelligence apparatus.
But the senior Israeli official said at the time, Netanyahu did not promise the Iranian people would take fate into their own hands following a coordinated attack. Rather, he chose his words carefully and said that an attack could create conditions to “advance the probability or the possibility that that would happen.”
The conditions needed for the Iranian regime to fall, “did not materialize,” the official told MS NOW, adding, “not for lack of insight, but for either operational failure or decisions that were made.”
Despite Netanyahu insisting Israel and the U.S. are on the same page, differences still remain: the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and the Saudi nuclear arrangement did not come up during Wednesday’s White House meeting, according to a second Israeli official granted anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
Meanwhile, the conflict continues to spread, with an Iranian drone attacking a U.S. gas storage tanker off the coast of Egypt on Wednesday.
Trump indicated he would not let Iran’s latest action slide, telling reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. would retaliate against Iran even as he leaves room for diplomatic talks to resume.
“It’s our turn, and we’ll see if we get there with an agreement at some point,” Trump said. “But we’re going to hit them very hard.”
As for what it would take for Israel to join the U.S. strikes, the senior Israeli official said that if Israel is attacked by Iran, “We will respond very, very forcefully and very quickly. And I think Iran would make a great mistake.”
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.
International rage over FIFA’s close ties to President Donald Trump has reached a fever pitch after soccer’s governing body announced a plan to sell a significant stake to an investor group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.
The president and his family have all but turned the White House into their personal piggy bank. And FIFA — which has its own sordid history of corruption — seems to have made itself a party to Trump’s self-enrichment under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, such as by paying for space inside Trump Tower in New York. (The organization has defended the office rental as a World Cup outpost.)
Soccer is seen by many as a unifying game. But Trump’s incorporation of FIFA into his political dynasty is threatening that idea.
FIFA has announced plans to sell a large minority stake in a new company that will run its main events, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, as part of a plan to triple the amount of development money it dishes out to its 211 member associations.
Under the proposals — which are subject to approval by a majority of those national associations and FIFA’s 37-member council — a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) will take over all commercial operations, while FIFA remains the game’s global governing body and retains a majority stake in FFE.
A press release from FIFA confirmed the plans and said Thrive Eternal, which was launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investment group that would control FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA did not clarify why Thrive Eternal was selected, and Kushner was already dabbling in sports.
But Trump basically has already given son-in-law Jared Kushner carte blanche to dictate U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while simultaneously hatching business plans in the region. (Jared Kushner has denied any conflicts of interest.)
Joshua Kushner reportedly has been a major donor to Democrats. But, predictably, the idea of another Kushner becoming financially entwined with the World Cup — the world’s most popular sporting event — and basically being dropped into a position of global significance isn’t going over well. Several other soccer governing bodies have expressed concerns, including Europe’s UEFA.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said in a statement about The Athletic’s report, adding: “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also rebuked the plan, writing on X: “Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough — now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.”
FIFA, Donald Trump’s favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports, is now going directly into business with the Trump family!
Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough—now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a… https://t.co/knSZibuMea
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 28, 2026
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has already launched an investigation into the FIFA leader’s relationship with the Trump administration, while dozens of European lawmakers — citing concerns about “potential breaches of political neutrality” — have called for the FIFA Ethics Committee to investigate Infantino. This new proposal seems unlikely to assuage those concerns.
But what it does seem likely to do is fuel global anger toward the U.S. — the kind that has been growing since Trump retook office.
And when you consider that, it’s truly remarkable how the same MAGA movement whose members whined for years about politics mixing with sports is now in lockstep with a president who seems dead-set on casting his shadow over every sports event he can.
This post on X basically sums up the foul stench around FIFA’s latest proposal.
Sepp Blatter was Infantino’s predecessor as FIFA president and oversaw the organization amid some of its many scandals. When heof all people, is warning about how Trump and Infantino’s relationship is “deeply damaging” soccer, it’s a sign of how far FIFA has descended into the gutter.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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