Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s reported boyfriend faces a rare and unusual investigation from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the probe follows a DHS inspector general referral of Noem’s de facto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski.
Lewandowski, a longtime Trump ally, allegedly used his position at Homeland Security to enrich himself.
The criminal investigation targets the possible awarding of fraudulent contracts approved during Noem’s year-long stint heading up the agency.
Lewandowski was Noem’s top adviser while serving in an unpaid role as a “Special Government Employee.” The DOJ defines this as a temporary worker appointed to provide outside expertise, advice, or consulting for no more than 130 days during any given year.
But during his time in the role, investigators found that Lewandowski helped sign specific agreements, according to The Independent. He also approved nearly all DHS funding decisions exceeding $100,000, putting him at the center of how the department awarded contracts and selected recipients.
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The WSJ also reported that Lewandowski used his role at DHS to reach out to Middle Eastern officials about consulting work.
Reporters asked Trump about the DOJ’s Lewandowski probe on Thursday, outside the White House.
Trump then contradicted himself while trying to answer the question, first saying he didn’t know anything about it.
“No, I don’t know about it. I mean, I heard something about it, but I don’t know exactly what it is,” he insisted.
“All I know is, I want my people to be honest, and if they’re not going to be honest, they have to be prosecuted,” Trump asserted.
“I view it as if people are not honest; they’re stealing from me as president; they’re stealing from me,” Trump repeated.
“And if they’re not honest, I’ll have my DOJ go and do whatever they have to do,” Trump added.
Social media exploded, pointing out the absurdity and calling for Noem’s prosecution as well.
“We’ve long known Corrupt Corey is shady, which is exactly why I asked Kristi Noem about his role as a ‘special government employee’ back in March,” Democratic congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove wrote in a post on social media.
“It’s past time for him AND Kristi to be held accountable for ripping off the American people,” she demanded.
Others piled on.
This commenter on Threads used one word to describe the situation: “Scapegoat.”
Another joked, “THIS DOJ?” followed by a series of laughing emojis, “It must be really bad.”
Threads user David A. Leos hilariously observed, “Just when you thought his romantic ties to Kristi Noem were the peak of his bad judgment, life drops a plot twist.”
Noem lost her job after claiming Trump knew about a $220 million anti-immigrant ad campaign featuring the former secretary.
She quickly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to conservative allies, according to a congressional investigation and Noem’s critics. One company received one of two contracts for the commercial just days after its creation.
During congressional testimony in March, Noem told lawmakers President Donald Trump had approved the costliest government ad campaign in the past decade, except for COVID-19 and military recruitment, which Trump quickly denied before publicly firing her on social media.
Lewandowski also lost his job when Noem departed at the end of March. And during those same congressional hearings, the married Noem flat-out denied that she was having an affair with the married Lewandowski.
After Noem’s firing, Trump gave her a role within the State Department as a special envoy for the new security alliance called the Shield of the Americas.
When asked about Noem’s termination from that role, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told NewsNation she’s still with the agency.
“We’ve seen the secretary’s time as envoy expire,” he said, according to The Independent. “She continues to be at the State Department as a senior adviser.”
