President Donald Trump was shocked to learn the husband of his former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had a secret habit of crossdressing for chats with online models.
The Daily Mail released its bombshell report on Bryon Noem on Tuesday, complete with lurid images of the 56-year-old clad in tight pink pants with giant balloons stuffed under his shirt.
The president told the Mail he was surprised to learn that the Noem family had confirmed the report.
“They confirmed it? Wow, well, I feel badly for the family if that’s the case, that’s too bad,” Trump responded.
“I haven’t seen anything. I don’t know anything about it. That’s too bad, but I just know nothing about it,” the president added.
The report comes just weeks after Trump fired Noem as his DHS secretary and reassigned her as a special envoy after she came under fire for spending $220 million in taxpayer money on self-promoting advertisements.
Kristi and Bryon Noem were also facing questions about the state of their 34-year marriage amid reports that Noem was having an affair with her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, for years.
She was recently even pressed directly about it by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the day before she was fired by Trump.
But while speculation about the former DHS secretary’s longtime rumored affair ran rampant in Washington, D.C., her husband had sent his secret online acquaintances at least $25,000 via Cash App and PayPal, according to Daily Mail.
National security experts told the publication that Mr. Noem’s transgressions could have left his wife open to the threat of blackmail while she was serving as a Cabinet member.
Had his fetish habit been known, she would not have likely received the necessary security clearance to run one of the country’s largest law enforcement departments.
When Noem was reached by phone by the Daily Mail, he did not deny sharing photos of himself crossdressing or talking dirty with online acquaintances.
However, he did deny making indiscreet comments about his wife and potentially exposing her to blackmail.
A spokesperson for the DHS told the Daily Mail that “Mrs. Noem is devastated” and that the family was “blindsided” by it.
