Three Democratic senators have demanded that Department of Homeland Security-linked companies keep their private messages with Kristi Noem’s adviser and rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski.
The move puts more pressure on Lewandowski, 52, who is now at the center of an expanding probe.
Sens. Adam Schiff, Peter Welch, and Richard Blumenthal—the ranking member on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations—have sent letters to Salus Worldwide Solutions and GEO Group, NBC News reported.
The trio has demanded that the firms retain all records and communications involving Lewandowski, his representatives, and any consulting firms connected to him.
Both companies are at the heart of the contracting scandal that cost Lewandowski and his alleged lover, ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi “ICE Barbie” Noem, 54, their jobs earlier this month—a downfall the Daily Beast has tracked throughout.
In their letter, the senators warned that multiple committees are now investigating whether DHS spending was “subject to improper influence, corruption, or other violations of federal law.”
GEO Group is a private prison firm contracted by DHS to detain undocumented immigrants. Salus holds a separate $915 million contract to run the administration’s self-deportation program.
The Beast revealed this month that Salus is linked via shared leadership to Daedalus Aviation, the two-year-old firm whose CEO oversaw his previous airline going into bankruptcy before landing a $140 million ICE deportation fleet deal.
NBC News previously reported that a Salus representative allegedly asked the marketing firm to funnel part of a potential contract to a consultant connected to Lewandowski.
In a separate incident, the outlet reported, Lewandowski allegedly told GEO Group founder George Zoley during a face-to-face meeting that he wanted to be paid in exchange for “protecting and growing” the company’s DHS contracts—a claim the Beast has previously reported on.
When Zoley declined, Lewandowski, who was President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign manager before being fired, allegedly then told a senior DHS official to stop awarding contracts to GEO Group—before a new $121 million GEO Group contract was awarded months later in December 2025.
Lewandowski’s lawyer, Adam Trigg, has dismissed the allegations and threatened defamation litigation against NBC News.
He told NBC the GEO Group account was “absolutely false.” A lawyer for Salus flatly denied the NBC account, saying the firm “would never entertain this type of arrangement.”
It remains unclear whether Lewandowski received any payment from any contractor.
Earlier this week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee separately wrote to GEO Group requesting details of all meetings and conversations with Lewandowski.
The Senate letters add fresh congressional momentum to what is fast becoming one of the most sweeping corruption investigations in DHS history—and, as the Beast has reported, sparked a civil war between the department and the White House.
Insiders previously told the Beast the “knives were out” for Noem and Lewandowski after their ousting and that “no Republican with a brain” would defend them as Democrats mounted their investigations.
Spokespeople for the White House, DHS, and GEO Group did not respond to NBC’s requests for comment on the payment allegations. Spokespeople for Salus and GEO Group did not respond to questions about being asked to preserve communications for the senators.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House, DHS, GEO Group, and Salus for comment.
