DHS staff used spy-blocking bags and sound machines to hide from Kristi Noem: report

The environment inside the Department of Homeland Security under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser and long-rumored lover, was apparently so hostile that staffers had to take extreme measures, according to reports on Monday.

Top ICE staffers apparently tried to block the duo from alleged spying concerns by using sound machines to block recordings because they worried that they were under surveillance, The Daily Beast reported. An experienced employee described the “distrust, abuse, and corruption” within the agency under Noem's leadership as the "most toxic" they have ever seen.

In a Washington Examiner investigation published last week, three people revealed U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott was apparently so concerned Noem and Lewandowski were eavesdropping that he carried his phone in a Faraday bag, which is made of aluminum or silver to block electromagnetic signals and shield cell phones from surveillance or interception. Scott has claimed the pair had conducted an "evil" effort to remove him from his role and he was "paranoid" that Noem's chief adviser was "spying on him through his work phone and had bugged his office."

Scott said he thought Lewandowski was "trying to find anything that could persuade Trump to fire Scott, since Noem lacked the authority to do so herself."

That's what led Scott to make an unusual move.

"Rodney had his cell phones in a Faraday bag," an unnamed source said.

"I had never seen that outside of the intel community, where somebody’s putting their phones in a bag so they’re not emanating and can’t be monitored," according to the source. "I went ahead and put my phone in the bag, and that’s when we had the conversation."