White House probed whether Noem's suspected lover was grifting off DHS contracts: report

As early as last March, White House officials were investigating whether now-dismissed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's top aide and suspected lover Corey Lewandowski was improperly steering department contracts to enrich himself and his friends, reported the conservative National Review on Friday.

"In March 2025, just a few weeks into Noem’s tenure, a White House official called a DHS staffer to ask whether he had heard that Lewandowski was using his influence within the agency to steer lucrative contracts to political allies and whether he had any evidence that would substantiate the charge, the DHS official who took the call told National Review," said the report. "White House officials, lawmakers, and government contractors told NR that they have long suspected that Lewandowski and his political allies inside and outside of DHS are financially profiting from DHS contracts and multiple offices and committees on Capitol Hill are actively investigating the matter."

For years, Lewandowski has had a turbulent on-again, off-again relationship with Trump's inner circle, dating to when he was fired from the president's 2016 campaign.

"Lewandowski, who was technically serving as a special government employee, wielded an unprecedented level of influence within the agency, multiple DHS officials told National Review," noted the report. "Early on in his tenure at DHS, Lewandowski quickly developed a reputation as Noem’s closest adviser." He reportedly drove much of the policy around the Trump administration's mass deportation schemes.

Noem and Lewandowski, who are both married with children, have long denied near-ubiquitous rumors that the two of them are engaged in an affair, driven by how frequently they are seen together outside of professional settings, and the fact that she traveled around in a luxury jet with a bedroom in it.

Right before Noem was fired this week, she was grilled by Congress about DHS diverting $220 million to an advertisement featuring her prominently. She claimed that Trump authorized it, which reportedly infuriated the president.