Kristi Noem’s alleged longtime lover is lashing out—threatening a legal showdown after a bombshell report accused him of trying to cash in on lucrative government contracts.
Corey Lewandowski, a top Trump attack dog and adviser to the ousted Homeland Security secretary, is threatening litigation against NBC News, which reported that multiple companies complained to the Trump administration that Lewandowski stood to profit from the DHS contracting process.
In a letter sent to NBC Universal, commercial litigator Adam Trigg demanded a retraction of the story, which alleged Lewandowski—who served as Noem’s de facto chief of staff—requested payment from the private prison company GEO Group as it sought to renew contracts with the government that could potentially expand its role in the Trump administration’s hardline and costly mass deportation plans.
“To suggest that Mr. Lewandowski exerted influence over such processes is not merely inaccurate; it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of federal contracting law,” the letter from law firm Bergeson LLP, obtained by the Daily Beast, reads.
Lewandowski’s legal team then hurled insults at NBC’s use of anonymous sourcing. The outlet cited more than two dozen people it spoke to over seven months, all of whom voiced concerns about the former Trump adviser’s role in the government contracting process. NBC granted them anonymity because they were either unauthorized to speak to the media or “wanted to protect their relationships with an agency critical to their business,” according to the report.
“You are likely well versed in the law regarding the use of confidential sources for false and defamatory allegations and how that use will play out at trial. First, a refusal to provide the names of critics making defamatory allegations before publication denies the subjects the opportunity to demonstrate the critics’ possible bias and prejudice to the Reporter,” Trigg wrote.
“Such denial will constitute powerful evidence of a publisher’s following a preconceived defamatory storyline, and in turn will support a showing of actual malice.”
Trigg then went so far as to threaten to force the identity of NBC’s sources into the limelight.
“Second, if NBC refuses to disclose in litigation the anonymous sources on whom it relies—effectively depriving Mr. Lewandowski “access to valuable and material Evidence” —NBC may forfeit its defense of truth and fault,” the letter reads.
“Overcoming Mr. Lewandowski’s showing of falsity and actual malice at trial would mandate NBC’s disclosure of the sources’ identity.”
Trigg also alleged that GEO Group founder George Zoley, who went on the record with NBC, merely has an axe to grind with Lewandowski, 52.
During a meeting with the company, Lewandowski allegedly told Zoley he wanted to be paid in exchange for “protecting and growing” GEO Group’s DHS contracts, which Zoley declined, NBC News reported.
“Regarding the sole source who went on the record, George Zoley, his well-known ill will toward Mr. Lewandowski will support a showing of actual malice,” Trigg wrote. “His allegations—which are not supported by any evidence because they are false—are so ‘inherently improbable that only a reckless person would’ publish them.”
Trigg concluded by demanding an immediate retraction. “Mr. Lewandowski adamantly denies ever demanding any payment or compensation from any potential, former, or current government contractor—such allegations are not supported by a single piece of evidence (because there is none) and instead stem from almost entirely anonymous sources, save one person with a well-known axe to grind,” he wrote.
This isn’t the only hot water Noem’s right-hand man has found himself in. He is also facing scrutiny over claims that he personally benefited from a $220 million anti-immigration ad campaign featuring Noem—known for her love of highly stylized photo ops—riding a horse and wearing a cowboy hat.
Noem brought Lewandowski on at DHS to serve only 130 days annually as a special government employee—though he has been glued to her side ever since. The pair, both married, allegedly have a years-long affair that is often described as “D.C.’s worst kept secret.”
