Like others in the realm of Project 2025, Homan had cultivated strong ties to anti- democratic extremists tied to efforts to overthrow elections. Specifically, to the America Project. The America Project had its roots in the chaotic December 2020 White House meeting in which Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne and Emily Newman urged Trump to seize voting machines. The organization was founded in 2021 by Byrne, Flynn and his brother Joseph. In congressional testimony, Byrne described the America Project as a direct successor to the “Defending the Republic” organization — helmed by Powell and directed by Joseph Flynn, Newman and others — that had pushed the “Kraken” lawsuits. Newman joined America Project as presi- dent for a period of time. Another attorney on Powell’s “Kraken” cases, Julia Haller, was included on Project 2025 Border Security Workgroup emails pertaining to merging domestic law enforcement with the mili- tary, among other aspects of the group’s proposals. During that time, Haller worked as senior counsel at Stephen Miller’s America First Legal Foundation. Haller did not respond to question from CRN and New Times. Someone else who hopped on board with the America Project was Homan, who had been ICE director during Trump’s first administration. In 2023, America Project filed a report with the Florida Department of State listing Homan as “director and CEO.” That same year, Homan incorporated multiple enti- ties under the name “Border911,” according to Virginia Corporation Commission records. America Project and Border911 would hold a number of tandem campaign-style events throughout 2023 and 2024 — including at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — with America Project promoting Border911 events as its own. A central theme of these events was “every state is a border state.” The events often combined or conflated issues of border security and election security. “Border security” got mere lip service compared to “election integrity,” though. America Project tax records show that while the group did spend tens of thou- sands of dollars on “border security” causes and often used Homan and Border911 to fill seats at events, it spent millions in relation to efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election and 2022 midterms. That included around $710,000 in “legal support” to attorney Stefanie Lambert of “Kraken” infamy. She is currently awaiting trial in Michigan on charges related to her alleged accessing of voting machines and non-public voter data in several Michigan counties. In 2021, America Project also paid at least $2.75 million to Cyber Ninjas, the firm hired to conduct the lengthy “audit” of Maricopa County votes cast in the 2020 election. America Project also funded We The People AZ Alliance, which worked to undermine results in the 2022 Arizona midterm elections. During this period, the group employed now-disgraced attorney Bryan Blehm, who represented both Cyber Ninjas and failed 2022 candidate Kari Lake in her attempts to overturn her election loss to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs. Homan served as something of a lynchpin among various players in the Project 2025 realm, particularly regarding border security and elections. Tax records show that Homan’s private firm, Homeland Strategic Consulting, was paid at least $480,000 in “media consulting” fees by the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal arm of the anti-immi- grant network founded by white nation- alist John Tanton. (To be very clear, the Tanton network is not anti-illegal immi- grant, but fully anti-immigrant.) In 2023, Homan was paid $120,000 as a director of the America Project. That same year, he was listed as a contributor to Project 2025 in his capacity as a Heritage “visiting fellow.” Homan was also listed as a member of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s “Border Security Coalition,” a group that included Rios and de la Pena of the Border Security Workgroup. In 2024, the FBI reportedly recorded Homan accepting $50,000 in cash suppos- edly for his help in securing contracts from the next Trump administration. Once Trump took office, his Department of Justice reportedly shut down that investigation. Homan did not respond to multiple questions from CRN and New Times, including about whether he met with members of the Border Security Workgroup, what he thought of its plans and whether he — as “border czar” — would support invocation of the Insurrection Act in the name of border security. In response to the same questions, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson wrote that Homan “is an American patriot” who “continues to adhere to federal ethics and conflicts of interests rules.” Jackson continued: “As a private citizen and government official, Tom has met with and heard from many different organiza- tions who want to share their opinions — this is standard practice. Meetings have never been considered an endorsement of independent organizations’ ideas.” THIS IS HAPPENING Since the president’s inauguration in January 2021, many events have unfolded that bear a striking resemblance to the Border Security Workgroup’s plans. One workgroup participant was Joseph Humire, who was hired at the Pentagon in June 2025 as “deputy assistant secretary of Defense for homeland defense integration and defense support of civil authorities.” Humire has since been promoted to “deputy assistant secretary of War for Americas security affairs.” His initial placement occurred right around the time Trump decided to seize California’s National Guard and deploy them, along with active U.S. Marines, to Los Angeles. Trump has since deployed the National Guard to the District of Columbia and threatened other military deployments — through a number of means, including the Insurrection Act — to Portland, Chicago, New Orleans, Charlotte and Minneapolis. In many cases, court orders have enjoined him from following through. Another group participant, Earl Matthews, was confirmed as general counsel at the Department of Defense in July 2025. In this position, Matthews is the top attorney consulted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Matthews did not respond to questions from CRN and New Times, including about whether he would support invoking the Insurrection Act. Jon Feere, who at the time was the “director of investigations” at the anti- immigrant Center for Immigration Studies, also participated in the workgroup. Prior to joining the first Trump presidential campaign and transition team, he had worked at CIS for at least a decade. In his time there, he advocated for draconian measures such as ending birthright citizen- ship, a cause the current Trump adminis- tration has pursued. During the first Trump term, Feere served as chief of staff to multiple directors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including Homan. He returned to that role last year before being promoted to “senior advisor” to acting ICE director Todd Lyons. Ronald Vitiello — one of Lyons’ prede- cessors as ICE director, and one of Feere’s bosses in that role — was also a member of the Border Security Workgroup. He is now a “senior advisor” with Customs and Border Protection. That agency oversees the Border Patrol, which is now led by former Texas “border czar” Michael Banks, another workgroup participant. Another member, Jason Killmeyer, replaced Feere as ICE chief of staff late last year. Yet another, David Vandenberg, is now an attorney in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, where he is leading several lawsuits seeking access to voter registration records in blue states. While many things called for by the Border Security Workgroup have trans- pired, events that have unfolded during this Trump term have not perfectly mirrored its plans. The Trump administration’s many overreaches have prompted spirited and vociferous pushback. Several states, including California, have successfully blocked Trump’s domestic military ambi- tions in the courts. Trump’s “surges” of thuggish masked immigration agents to Democratic-led cities — which have resulted in the shooting deaths of two American citizens — have sparked a back- lash that has tanked Republicans’ approval numbers and resulted, at least for now, in a drawdown of those hamfisted deployments. But Trump and the true believers and opportunists who surround him in govern- ment are nothing if not persistent. They’ve persevered despite adverse court rulings and other impediments. It stands to reason that they’ll continue to grab for as much power as they can before what appears to be an inevi- table vivisection in the 2026 midterms. This November’s elections loom like a deadline. They could flip power in Washington, empowering Democratic lawmakers intent on reining in Trump. For that same reason, it is difficult to gauge what Trump might attempt in order to retain power, spurred on by the same elec- tion-denying sycophants who did his bidding in 2020 — some of the same syco- phants who guided the Border Security Workgroup as it crafted plans that could be used to deploy the military against Americans. Plans that the Trump administration may still try to put into effect. This article is a continuation of the Big Takeover investigative series begun last year by Cochise Regional News and Phoenix New Times. This story is part of the Arizona Watchdog Project, a yearlong reporting effort led by New Times and supported by the Trace Foundation, in partnership with Deep South Today. 16 A U.S. Marine stands guard at Los Angeles’ Westwood Federal Building complex as demonstrators protest U.S. involvement in the Israel/Iran conflict in front of the facility in June 2025. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Insurrectionist Brunch from p 14
