‘IF THEY'RE NOT HONEST...’

Trump Throws His Longtime MAGA Ally Under the Bus

The president delivered a warning to anyone who might be “stealing” from him.

Donald Trump is hanging out to dry a former adviser who is now the subject of a Justice Department inquiry.

Trump, before flying to a midterm rally in Iowa, spoke at the White House about the inquiry into Corey Lewandowski, who was the top adviser to ex-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem until their March ouster. Lewandowksi, 53, is alleged to have profited off of his role, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. He denies the claims.

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“No, I don’t know about it. I mean, I heard something about it. But I don’t know exactly what it is. 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, 80, said. “I don’t know about specifically, but—because I view it [if] people are not honest, they’re stealing from me, as president. They’re stealing from me. So, I want my people to be honest, and if they’re not honest, I’ll have my DOJ go and do whatever they have to do.”

A reporter followed up: “It sounds like you’re okay with that investigation, then?”

“Well, I—I—I guess I could stop anything,” Trump said. “Look, if my people are not—I have no idea what he did. I have—just heard about it a little while. I want the people that work for this administration to be 100 percent honest.”

The inquiry into Lewandowski, who has been an inner Trumpworld figure for the past decade, was spurred by a referral from the DHS inspector general, according to the Journal. It wasn’t immediately clear which alleged actions by Lewandowski were included in the referral, but the Journal reported last month that the inspector general was looking into how he appeared to use his stature in the administration to enrich himself, for instance by asking Qatari and U.A.E. officials to hire him on the side to help with issues like visas. Some of the foreign officials were reportedly “taken aback” by Lewandowski’s alleged offer.

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Lewandowski—or close associates of his—also approved nearly all DHS expenditures over $100,000, the Journal notes, meaning he was in a position to know about DHS’ many contractors.

Lewandowski denies wrongdoing. His attorney, Adam Trigg, told the Daily Beast in a statement: “Mr. Lewandowski has not been contacted by the Justice Department regarding any investigation, and he denies any wrongdoing when he was proudly serving his country in a voluntary capacity.”

A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment to the Daily Beast.

Neither Trigg nor Lewandowski immediately responded when asked about Trump’s reaction to the inquiry.

The Journal previously reported that Lewandowski told allies that he expects a Trump pardon should any criminal charges be brought. His lawyer denied this.

The inquiry is the first instance—in public, at least—of Trump’s second-term Justice Department looking into an individual in the president’s orbit.

Lewandowski was Trump’s presidential campaign manager from 2015 until June 2016, and was a senior adviser to his 2024 campaign.

While at DHS, Lewandowski’s alleged affair with Noem was described as the “worst-kept secret” in D.C.

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