California Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken another shot at President Donald Trump, this time by attacking his top White House immigration official, Tom Homan.
Trump’s border czar accepted $50,000 in cash last year from FBI agents posing as businessmen in exchange for lucrative contracts should his boss win the presidential election for a second term.
Now, Newsom has poked fun at Homan—who has denied any wrongdoing—after the latter was adamant that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would be allowed to wear masks to cover their faces when conducting immigration raids in California.
Homan was asked what his message was to the California governor, who has banned ICE agents from wearing masks in his state.
“Good luck with that,” the border boss said during a TV interview with Newsmax on Wednesday evening.
But Newsom wasted no time in replying to Homan on X, where he reposted the interview and brought up the alleged $50,000 bribery scandal.
“What if we give you another $50,000 in a paper bag?” he wrote from his official press office account.
Homan was handpicked as Trump’s border czar and now has an office right in the West Wing, just 20 yards from the Oval Office. He has become a near-constant presence on TV and—along with Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem—he is the face of Trump’s cherished hardline immigration policy.
The Daily Beast contacted the White House press office for comment.
Newsom’s face mask ban for ICE agents known as the “No Secret Police Act” is due to come into effect in January 2026 but has drawn criticism from a number of Trump appointees.
U.S Attorney Bill Essayli spoke out against the ban, saying that California “has no jurisdiction over the federal government” and that “agents will continue to protect their identities,” in a post on X.
As for Homan, he has not denied taking the $50,000 but insisted he had not committed any crimes after it was first reported by MSNBC.
The news outlet also alleged that Homan had been soliciting payments from private firms in exchange for government contracts if Trump won the 2024 election.
“I did nothing criminal, I did nothing illegal, and there’s hit piece after hit piece after hit piece,” Homan told Laura Ingraham on Fox News. “And I’m glad the FBI and DOJ came out and said that nothing illegal happened and no criminal activity.”
