Whitehouse Asked Bondi the Same Question 8 Times — "What Happened to the $50,000?"

[0:00] stated the investigation of Mr. Holman was subjected to a full review by the FBI agents [0:07] by Department of Justice prosecutors. They found no evidence of wrongdoing. That's a different [0:14] question. What became of the $50,000? Did the FBI get it back? Mr. Whitehouse, excuse me, [0:22] Senator Whitehouse, you're welcome to talk to the FBI. The report to you, can't you answer this [0:27] question? Senator Whitehouse, you're welcome to discuss this with Director Patel. Did Holman keep [0:35] the $50,000? As Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche recently stated, the investigation of [0:45] Mr. Holman was subjected to a full review by the FBI agents and the DOJ. They found no credible [0:53] evidence of wrongdoing. You know, you're very concerned about money and people taking money [0:59] and you rail against dark news. Do you know, wait a second, [1:00] wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. Yeah, you work with dark money groups all the [1:04] time, Senator Whitehouse. Pam Bondi came to that Senate hearing ready for everything. Personal [1:09] attacks, prepared binders, deflections disguised as answers. She had done this before. She knew [1:16] how to run out the clock, how to turn a question back on the questioner, how to make two minutes [1:21] feel like 30 seconds. What she wasn't ready for was a senator who simply would not move on. [1:27] Sheldon Whitehouse asked one question eight times, [1:31] eight different times. [1:31] Same answer every single time. Talk to Director Patel. Watch until the end. Because what happened [1:38] in those eight exchanges is not just a hearing moment. It is a documented record of an attorney [1:43] general who was asked, repeatedly under oath, what happened to $50,000 in government cash, [1:50] and could not give a single direct answer. The money went somewhere. The tape exists, [1:55] and the question is still open. Well, would he won? If you're new here, subscribe now. [2:00] We break these. [2:01] Moments down as they develop, without the noise, without the spin. Sheldon Whitehouse is a former [2:07] federal prosecutor, a former state attorney general. He has spent decades in rooms where [2:12] money has to be accounted for. He knows that $50,000 in government cash does not simply [2:17] disappear. He opened his folder. He looked at Bondi, and he asked one question. Attorney General [2:24] Bondi, Whitehouse began, his voice carrying the flat precision of a former prosecutor who had [2:29] done this many times before. [2:32] September 20, 2024. A restaurant in Texas. Hidden cameras rolling. Your border czar accepted $50,000 [2:40] in cash from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives, in a paper bag, in exchange [2:47] for a promise. When Trump won and Homan took office, those contracts would come their way. [2:53] Six sources confirmed it. Internal DOJ documents confirmed it. Hidden cameras confirmed it. [2:59] The public integrity section opened a full investigation. [3:02] Then a Trump appointee called it a deep state probe. Shut it down. He paused. What became of [3:10] the $50,000? Bondi reached for her binder, flipped to a prepared page. Senator, as Deputy Attorney [3:17] General Todd Blanche recently stated, the investigation of Mr. Homan was subjected to a [3:22] full review by FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors. They found no credible evidence of any wrongdoing. [3:29] Whitehouse did not blink. That is not what I asked. [3:32] I asked what became of the $50,000. Was it returned to the government? You would have to [3:38] talk to Director Patel about that. Whitehouse looked at her for a moment. Then he asked again. [3:44] Whitehouse. Attorney General. Was the $50,000 recovered by the FBI after the investigation [3:52] was closed? Bondi. The investigation was resolved prior to my confirmation as Attorney General. [3:59] Whitehouse. That is not an answer to my question. Was the money recovered? [4:04] Yes or no. Bondi. You would have to talk to Director Patel about that. Whitehouse wrote [4:11] something on his legal pad. He did not look up when he asked the third time. [4:16] When Kandai Amiri, Attorney General, you oversee the FBI. Director Patel reports through the chain [4:22] of command to you. If you wanted to know what happened to $50,000 in government cash, you could [4:28] pick up the phone and find out in 10 minutes. So let me ask you one more time. What happened to [4:34] that money? [4:36] Senator. I believe that was resolved prior to my confirmation. [4:40] Wintai. You keep using the word resolved. What does resolved mean? Does it mean the money was [4:46] returned? Does it mean it was kept by Mr. Homan? Does it mean it is sitting in an evidence locker [4:52] somewhere? What does resolved mean? Bondi. I would refer you to Director Patel. [4:59] Whitehouse set down his pen. He looked directly at her. [5:02] Attorney General. You are the highest ranking law enforcement official in the United States. [5:07] I am asking you where $50,000 in government money went, [5:11] and you are telling me to ask someone else. Bondi. That matter was handled prior to my [5:17] tenure. Whitehouse. Then let me ask you something different. I need to stop here. [5:22] Hit the like button right now. Because do you understand what's happening? [5:26] Whitehouse is not asking for classified information. He is not asking about an [5:31] ongoing investigation. He is asking a basic accounting question. $50,000 in government cash, [5:38] where did it go? That question has one factual answer, and the Attorney General will not give it. [5:44] Leave a comment. Why do you think she keeps pointing to Patel? [5:48] Fourth time. Attorney General, let me try a different angle. Is there a recording, [5:53] audio or video of Mr. Homan accepting the $50,000? Bondi looked at him. [5:59] Senator. I would refer you to Director Patel for any questions about specific evidence in [6:05] that matter. Whitehouse's voice did not rise. [6:08] So you don't want to talk to me about it? You don't want to talk to me about it? [6:08] No. You don't want to talk to me about it? You don't want to talk to me about it? [6:08] No. You don't want to talk to me about it? You don't want to talk to me about it? [6:08] No. You don't want to talk to me about it? You don't want to talk to me about it? [6:08] You don't want to talk to me about it? You don't want to talk to me about it? [6:08] So you don't know if a tape exists. I believe that was resolved prior to... [6:15] You don't know if a tape of the border czar accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents [6:21] in a paper bag exists. You are the Attorney General, and you don't know if that tape exists. [6:27] Bondi. I would refer you to Director Patel. [6:31] Fifth time. Whitehouse leaned forward slightly. Multiple major news organizations confirmed this [6:39] recording exists. Internal... [6:41] Justice Department documents reviewed by those organizations confirm it. [6:46] Six sources confirmed it. [6:47] Are you telling this committee that you, the Attorney General, [6:50] have less information about this tape than the journalists who wrote about it? [6:54] Bondi. [6:55] Senator. [6:56] The investigation was subjected to a full review. [6:59] Does the tape exist? [7:01] Yes or no. [7:03] I would refer you to Director Patel. [7:05] White House. [7:07] You won't say yes. [7:08] You won't say no. [7:10] You will refer me to Patel. [7:12] Is that your answer? [7:13] Bondi. [7:14] That is my answer. [7:15] White House wrote that down. [7:17] There a sixth time. [7:19] Attorney General. [7:20] Mr. Homan is now the border czar. [7:23] He oversees the largest deportation operation in American history. [7:27] Billions of dollars in government contracts flow through his office [7:30] to private immigration enforcement companies, [7:34] the same companies he allegedly promised those contracts to [7:37] when he accepted that cash in Texas. [7:39] He paused. [7:41] Let the numbers sit in the room. [7:43] If that tape exists, [7:44] and the reporting strongly suggests it does, [7:47] don't the American people have a right to see it? [7:50] Bondi. [7:51] Senator. [7:51] That matter was resolved. [7:53] I'm not asking whether the matter was resolved. [7:55] I'm asking whether the American people have a right to see evidence of their border czar [8:00] accepting $50,000 in bribes. [8:02] Do they? [8:03] Bondi stared at him. [8:05] Senator. [8:07] I would refer you to Director Patel. [8:09] White House. [8:10] You won't answer that either. [8:12] Bondi. [8:13] I would refer you to Director Patel. [8:14] White House. [8:15] I would refer you to Director Patel. [8:17] Seventh time. [8:18] Attorney General, let me ask you this. [8:20] If a private citizen accepted $50,000 in cash from undercover federal agents [8:25] in exchange for promising government contracts, [8:28] and it was captured on tape, [8:30] would your department pursue that case? [8:32] Bondi. [8:33] Senator. [8:34] Every case is reviewed on its individual merits, [8:37] yes or no. [8:38] Would you pursue that case? [8:40] Bondi. [8:41] Every investigation is evaluated based on the evidence. [8:44] White House. Cut her off quietly. [8:45] But you wouldn't pursue this one. [8:47] This case. [8:48] With this tape. [8:49] With this $50,000. [8:50] With this person. [8:51] You closed it. [8:52] And called it a deep state probe. [8:53] Bondi. [8:54] That decision was made prior to my confirmation. [8:55] By people you now supervise. [8:56] White House said it simply. [8:57] In an administration you now serve. [8:58] Bondi said nothing. [8:59] Venus time. [9:00] White House looked at his legal pad. [9:01] Then back at Bondi. [9:03] His voice had not changed once across all airwaves. [9:04] Bondi. [9:05] I would refer you to Director Patel. [9:06] White House. [9:07] I would refer you to Director Patel. [9:08] If a private citizen accepted $50,000 in cash from undercover federal agents in exchange [9:09] for promising government contracts. [9:10] Bondi. [9:11] I would refer you to Director Patel. [9:12] Then back at Bondi. [9:14] His voice had not changed once across all eight exchanges. [9:18] No theatrics. [9:19] No anger. [9:20] Just the steady, patient insistence of someone who had decided he was going to put this on [9:24] the record whether she answered or not. [9:27] Attorney General Bondi. [9:28] One final time. [9:30] What happened to the $50,000? [9:32] The room was completely silent. [9:34] Bondi looked at him. [9:35] I would refer you to Director Patel. [9:38] White House nodded once. [9:40] Slowly. [9:41] He made a note on his legal pad. [9:43] He did not ask a ninth question. [9:45] Here is what the congressional record from that hearing contains. [9:48] Tom Homan accepted $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents on September 20, 2024. [9:56] The exchange was captured on hidden cameras. [9:59] The Public Integrity Section opened a full investigation. [10:02] A Trump DOJ appointee shut it down in early 2025, calling it a deep state probe. [10:08] Sheldon Whitehouse asked Pam Bondi eight times what happened to that money. [10:12] Eight times. [10:13] She said talk to Patel. [10:15] She did not confirm the money was returned. [10:17] She did not confirm it was documented. [10:19] She would not say the tape exists. [10:22] She would not say whether the American people had a right to see it. [10:25] She would not say whether the same conduct in a private citizen would be prosecuted. [10:29] Eight questions. [10:31] Eight referrals. [10:32] Zero answers. [10:33] And Homan, the man who accepted the cash, on tape, in a paper bag, in a Texas restaurant, [10:39] is still the border czar. [10:41] Still overseeing billions in government contracts. [10:42] Still sitting in the White House. [10:43] White House asked what happened to $50,000. [10:44] Bondi said talk to Patel. [10:45] Eight times. [10:46] The money is still somewhere. [10:47] The tape still exists. [10:48] And the question is still in the congressional record. [10:49] Unanswered. [10:51] Subscribe. [10:52] Because Schiff asked the same question in the same hearing. [10:53] And what Bondi said to him was something else entirely.