Vice President JD Vance clashed with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday over a slow-burning scandal enveloping Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar.
On ABC’s This Week, Stephanopoulos concluded an interview with the vice president by asking about reports from ProPublica and other news outlets indicating that FBI officials are in possession of a video in which Homan is seen accepting a $50,000 bribe from an FBI agent while offering to connect interested parties with lucrative federal contracts related to immigration enforcement.
The White House has denied that Homan accepted the cash, but Homan himself has not directly done so when commenting about the since-closed investigation.
Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed the vice president on this point. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, denied that Homan took the money at a briefing in September.
“I’m asking you, did he accept the $50,000 that was caught on the surveillance tape?” Stephanopoulos pressed Vance. “Did he accept that $50,000 or not?”
FBI agents on Sunday (X – ABC’s This Week)
“George, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did he accept $50,000 for what?” Vance responded.
Stephanopoulos pressed: “He was recorded on an audiotape in September of 2024, an FBI surveillance tape, accepting $50,000 in cash. Did he keep that money?”
“Accepting $50,000 for doing what, George? I am not even sure I understand the question. Is it illegal to take a payment for doing services? The FBI has not prosecuted him.”
“And here’s, George, why fewer and fewer people watch your show, and why you’re losing credibility,” Vance complained. “because you’re talking for now five minutes with the vice president of the United States about this story regarding Tom Homan, a story that I have read about, but I don’t even know the video that you’re talking about. Meanwhile, low-income women can’t get food because the Democrats and Chuck Schumer have shut down the government.”
