Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse confronted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with an image of the bedroom in the luxury plane she’s been using as she jets across the country with her alleged lover.
The 54-year-old DHS secretary has been known to frequently travel with her adviser Corey Lewandowski, with whom she has allegedly been having an affair.
Noem was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill as her husband, Bryon, was seated just behind her when Whitehouse asked her about the image he had blown up on a poster behind him in the hearing room.
“Can you explain this?” the Rhode Island Democrat asked, referring to the image.
“Sir, I’m looking at a picture of an interior. It looks like a bedroom,” Noem responded.
“Of an airplane?” the Senator said.
“Yes, sir,” said Noem.
“You’re not familiar with that?” Whitehouse asked.
“These photos are not accurate if you’re referring to the airplanes that the Department of Homeland Security has purchased and are purchasing,” she said. “We’re using them for long-range command and control aircraft that is dictated in statute by Congress for the Department of Homeland Security to have a plane—”
Whitehouse cut her off to ask if she had not used a luxury jet with a bedroom in it.
“We’ve used a 737. I’ve been on it once, but it is being used by other administration officials, and it is used for command and control flights for the department.”
The image of the aircraft bedroom was first published by NBC News and obtained from a brochure handed out to passengers. It showed a queen-sized bed in the luxury cabin adorned with six pillows. An armchair sits nearby.
The picture surfaced as Noem has been pushing for the outright purchase of the $70 million aircraft, which has been leased to the Department of Homeland Security.
Noem argued during the hearing that by purchasing the aircraft, the government would save taxpayers “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“Does it have a bedroom in it?” Whitehouse shot back.
“I believe it’s being refurbished in not having a bedroom in it,” Noem claimed. “So it is being refurbished.”
The senator questioned what kind of deportee justifies being taken out of the country on a luxury jet with a bedroom and other accommodations.
“There are aircraft being purchased that will be utilized for executive air travel and for deportations,” Noem insisted.
She claimed the U.S. government had used jets of its size and configuration for deportations.
Whitehouse grilled her on whether it was true the deportation planes had bedrooms like the one displayed in the room, but Noem just said the department was buying 737 to replace contracts.
The senator quoted officials calling the purchases an abuse of federal funds and the “world’s worst deal,” but he did not wade into the allegations about Noem’s own personal use of the luxury jet.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the DHS secretary and Lewandowski had been using a 737 MAX jet with a private cabin for their cross-country travel. The department had previously used other planes through the Coast Guard or other agencies for the secretary’s travel.
