The Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to preserve all of its records and internal communications as part of a probe into Corey Lewandowski, the de facto chief of staff and alleged lover of Kristi Noem.
Ranking Democrats on three House committees sent a letter Wednesday asking the DHS Inspector General to investigate allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and self-dealing at the department involving Lewandowski.
The former Trump adviser served for more than a year as a special government employee, a role that is supposed to be limited to 130 days per year, but Lewandowski has rarely left Noem’s side since she became secretary.
He amassed a staggering amount of power as her righthand man, including traveling with her to meet with world leaders, participating in high-level policy meetings, advising Noem on personnel decisions, arranging contractor meetings and reviewing contracts, and scheduling the secretary’s meetings with DHS officials and lobbyists.
At the same time, he has continued to pursue his business interests in the private sector and refused to provide financial disclosures.
“Mr. Lewandowski exercised outsized influence over DHS far beyond what an SGE is authorized to do, acting as a shadow chief of staff” for Noem, the ranking Democrats on the committees for Homeland Security, Oversight and Reform, Transportation and Infrastructure wrote in their letter.
In a separate letter to the department, the representatives demanded that DHS “preserve all communications and internal records concerning Mr. Lewandowski’s role within the Department, as well as the Department’s practices, policies, and procedures related to contracting, personnel, and the handling of classified materials.”
The letter also accused Noem of “misleading Congress” by testifying at congressional hearings earlier this month that Lewandowski had no role in approving DHS contracts.
President Donald Trump fired Noem following the hearings, during which Noem was also grilled on a $220 million DHS ad campaign and her relationship with Lewandowski, with whom she has long been rumored to be having an affair.
One Trump official called the alleged affair the “worst-kept secret” in Washington, D.C., though Lewandowski, 52, and Noem, 54—who are both married to different people and have children with their respective spouses—have denied being romantically involved.
With Noem soon to be gone at DHS, Lewandowski is out of a job too, ending what sources have described as his “reign of terror.”
The House Democrats’ inquiries did not address the nature of their relationship, focusing instead on Lewandowski’s official conduct.
“Mr. Lewandowski’s outsized role and questionable actions have not gone unnoticed even within the Trump Administration; for instance, when the White House Counsel’s Office opened an inquiry into Lewandowski’s potential abuse of the special government role,” the letter to DHS said.
DHS insiders previously told the Daily Beast that following their ousting, the “knives were out” for Noem and Lewandowski, and that “no Republican with a brain” would come to their defense as Democrats launch their inquiries.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Lewandowski and DHS for comment.
