The thief who stole Krisiti Noem’s Gucci bag containing $3,000 in cash moved closer and closer to her table until he was able to swipe the bag toward him with his foot, according to a report.
President Donald Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security was dining with her family at The Capital Burger restaurant in Washington, D.C., on Sunday when the bag—which also had her apartment keys, blank checks, passport, make-up bag and Department of Homeland Security access badge—went missing.
Surveillance footage shows a man dressed in dark clothing and a surgical mask zeroing in on the bag, which was resting by her feet, and then sitting down at the next table over, a law enforcement source told CNN. He sat with his back facing hers and then, minutes later, used his left foot to slide the bag towards him.
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Then he surveyed the restaurant, picked up the bag, covered it with his jacket, and left, according to CNN.
At least two on-duty plainclothes Secret Service members were sitting nearby at the restaurant’s bar when the theft took place, NBC News reported. They were seated between Noem’s table and the door, a source told NBC.
Noem only realized her bag was missing when she got up from the table. It wasn’t immediately clear if the thief knew who she was or if he was just targeting her luxury handbag, according to CNN.
A similar theft was reported three days earlier at the Westin Hotel restaurant just two blocks from The Capital Burger. A white man wearing dark clothes, a dark baseball cap, and a white N95 mask swiped a woman’s purse from the back of her chair, according to NBC.
Police investigating Noem’s case contacted the woman and asked if she was also involved in politics, which she isn’t.
As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made in either case. Noem acknowledged the theft on Monday at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll and said it remained unresolved, but she declined to comment further.
The Secret Service is investigating whether the thief has used any of Noem’s financial instruments. Critics questioned how such a major security lapse could have happened to the very person charged with protecting America’s security.
“This is a security breach that actually has high consequences, and it needs immediate and further review by the Secret Service and DHS and other law enforcement partners,” Jonathan Wackrow, a law enforcement analyst and former Secret Service agent, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on The Source.
“If necessary, the Secret Service will need to make operational changes on how they deal with these types of private events moving forward,” he said.
Others questioned why the homeland security secretary was carrying around so much cash.
“Her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren,” a spokesperson said. “She was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts.”
