ICE Barbie Kristi Noem’s cross-dressing husband is the “least of her problems,” according to author Michael Wolff.
Not a month after President Donald Trump fired Noem as DHS secretary, she was hit by reports this week that her husband of over three decades, Bryon Noem, adopted an online alter ego as a “bimbo” to chat with adult performers—allegedly paying them thousands of dollars.
But Wolff argued on the Inside Trump’s Head podcast that Noem’s rumored affair with her top aide Corey Lewandowski—who is similarly married with children—is the real reason she’ll “end in tears.”
“This is the least of her problems, you know, a husband with balloons,” Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles. “I mean, she’s got Corey Lewandowski.”
Wolff suggested that the former South Dakota governor’s alleged years-long romance with Lewandowski—Trump’s first 2016 campaign manager, who has repeatedly been forced out and pulled back into the president’s orbit—will prove toxic for her political future.
“He’s not only an aide, he’s someone who has a very close relationship with Donald Trump, is hated by other people in the administration,” said Wolff, who was granted insider access to the White House during Trump’s first term. “Anyone with a scintilla of political regard would realize, this is gonna end in tears.”
When Trump dismissed Noem last month, he also booted Lewandowski from his role as a special government employee.
Noem, 54, and Lewandowski, 56, have previously denied an affair, but Lewandowski’s outsized presence during her tenure as Homeland Security secretary, along with reports that the two live together at a D.C. military base, long stoked the rumors. The revelations about Bryon’s double life have only added fuel to the speculation.
Wolff noted that Lewandowski is now being investigated by a federal watchdog over his dealings with companies seeking federal contracts while he was Noem’s de facto chief of staff at the DHS, multiple people familiar with the investigation told The New York Times.
The probe by the DHS’s Inspector General, Joseph Cuffari, nominated to his post by Trump during his first term, comes as companies—including Palantir—have complained about their dealings with Lewandowski to Trump administration officials, according to the Times.
Meanwhile, House Democrats have also launched an inquiry into Lewandowski’s business dealings.
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 Mail’s bombshell report, which included leaked photos of Bryon’s bimbofication fetish, suggested Noem could have been vulnerable to blackmail during her tenure. But Wolff dismissed those concerns, saying that for Noem, “everything is an indiscretion.”
“The idea of blackmail sets this up in some kind of traditional political reality. Forget about it,” Wolff said. “I don’t even have the language for the preposterousness of Kristi Noem.”
Lewandowski has stuck by Noem’s side amid the fallout over Bryon’s secret cross-dressing life, the New York Post reported. Sources told the outlet that Lewandowski is orchestrating the PR response to the revelations—all while continuing to live with Noem at a military base home in Washington, D.C., usually occupied by the top Coast Guard official.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Bryon Noem, Kristi Noem, Lewandowski, and the DHS for comment.
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