Members of Congress aren’t the only ones raising questions about Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s advertising budget.
Since Noem’s testimony on Capitol Hill last week that led to her imminent replacement at DHS, President Donald Trump himself has been asking aides about Noem’s spending, according to NBC News.
And specifically, he’s asking if Noem aide Corey Lewandowski personally benefited, the network reported.
Lewandowski, Trump’s first campaign manager during his 2016 run, has been employed as Noem’s senior adviser since at least April of last year.
The relationship between the two — who are both married — has been fodder for rumors for years and played a prominent role in questioning during Noem’s appearances in the House and Senate last week.
In the Senate, Republican John Kennedy of Louisiana grilled Noem about whether Trump knew in advance about the $220 million Noem was spending on an advertising campaign about the DHS drive against illegal immigration.
In the House, as the liberal news outlet HuffPo reported, California Democrat Sydney Kamlager-Dove, whose district includes parts of Los Angeles, asked Noem directly:
“Secretary Noem, at any time during your tenure, as director of Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?” Kamlager-Dove asked.
Noem bristled at the question, calling it “tabloid garbage.”
It was hardly the first time the subject has been raised publicly. In 2023, the New York Post published a report citing “multiple sources” to state flatly that “Married Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has engaged in a years-long affair with longtime Donald Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski.”
The rumors were clearly known in Trump circles, as one of the incidents that fed them was Noem reportedly sitting on Lewandowski’s lap during a 2020 event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski originally wanted to serve as Noem’s official chief of staff, but Trump shot the idea down because of the rumors about the two.
Now, if the NBC News report about Trump is accurate — it’s based on “three people familiar with his conversations,” according to the network — Trump is questioning whether Lewandowski was a beneficiary of Noem’s spending of DHS funds on the advertising campaign, which featured her prominently.
“He’s mentioned the ads several times,” NBC News quoted one “senior White House official” as saying.
Interviewed by NBC News on Monday, Lewandowski denied getting any money out of the contracts awarded by DHS.
“Zero, not one penny,” he said, according to the network.
Noem will be out as head of DHS at the end of the month, to be replaced by current Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
Her new job will be special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, as USA Today reported — a new Trump administration initiative on security in the Western Hemisphere.
But the questions won’t end with the conclusion of her DHS tenure.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina has said publicly she plans to investigate Noem’s stewardship of taxpayer money during her time at the department.
“I don’t think she walks away from this, and she shouldn’t, because as Republicans, we need to hold our own accountable,” Mace told Newsmax.
“Because President Trump is trying to re-instill trust in our institutions, in Congress, in the White House. He’s doing a very good job of that.”
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