Kristi Noem and her rumored lover were spotted hanging out together in a suburb of Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Noem, whose brief stint as Homeland Security secretary saw the killing of two citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, joined her former top aide, Corey Lewandowski, for an afternoon hanging and biking in Wayzata, about nine miles west of Minneapolis.
In footage obtained by TMZ, the pair biked beside Lake Minnetonka and then grabbed an outdoor spot at The Grocer’s Table. They then biked to the restaurant CōV and sat outside, according to the site.
Noem, 54, was wearing a low-brim hat, while Lewandowski, 52, wore sunglasses. At a table, they appeared to laugh over something on Noem’s phone. At one point, Lewandowski seemed to realize he was being filmed, and quickly turned away.
Noem’s mother said last month that the former Trump administration official is divorcing her husband, Bryon, with whom she has three children. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Bryon, 56, had an alter ego as a crossdresser.
“It’s called bimbofication. People who modify their body to look like a doll. The Barbie look,” one model told the Daily Mail. “His kink is for huge, huge ridiculous boobs.”
Lewandowski still appears to be married. He has four children with wife Alison.
Neither immediately responded to a request for comment by the Daily Beast.
The two have long denied being romantically involved. When asked directly during a congressional hearing in March, Noem said she was “shocked we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today.” Lewandowski told the Daily Beast in March that he has denied having an affair with Noem 10,000 times and that his call with the Beast was No. 10,001.
But the pair’s alleged relationship, which has been dubbed Washington’s “worst-kept secret,” reportedly contributed to Noem getting the ax.
“The question about the affair at the hearing was actually the final straw. It was f---ing brutal,” one source told the New York Post. Another added: “There was just no going back with the two hearings. It all became about her and him.”
Noem would not last through the end of the month. Also a reported factor in her firing was a $220 million DHS ad campaign showing her in various outfits and on horseback. Noem had claimed Trump approved of the spending, but Trump denied it.
Noem’s exit also came a few months after federal agents in Minneapolis killed two citizens—tragedies that prompted the administration to back down from its aggressive approach to immigration enforcement. During that saga, Noem embarrassed herself by referring to nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot in the back multiple times in Minneapolis, as a “domestic terrorist,” and by falsely claiming he had brandished a firearm before he was killed.
