Congressional Democrats are urging the Biden Justice Department to pursue criminal charges against former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, just weeks after President Donald Trump removed her from the helm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and reassigned her to a new diplomatic role.
According to Fox News, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the ranking Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, dispatched a letter to the Department of Justice on Monday accusing Noem of misleading Congress during two high-profile oversight hearings earlier this month. Their missive asserted, "A number of her statements appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress," and further charged, "After months of evading our Committees requests to testify in routine oversight hearings, Secretary Noem made a series of demonstrably false statements in a brazen attempt to undermine critical congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security."
The Democratic leaders claimed Noems testimony contained four distinct categories of potentially perjurious statements, all delivered under oath before the House and Senate Judiciary panels. They focused on her answers regarding DHS compliance with court orders, the involvement of Trump ally Corey Lewandowski in DHS contracting, whether immigration enforcement had detained U.S. citizens, and, most explosively, the awarding of a $220 million advertising contract that prominently featured Noem herself.
That ad campaign became a flashpoint during Noems Senate appearance when Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed her on whether the massive contract had gone through a genuine competitive bidding process and why so much taxpayer money was funneled into it. Noem insisted that the deal had been properly vetted, telling senators the contract went through a competitive process, "and career officials at the Department chose who would do those advertising commercials," and she further testified that President Trump had been informed of and approved the campaign.
Trump later undercut that assertion in an interview with Reuters, casting doubt on Noems claim that he had personally signed off on the $220 million effort, a discrepancy Kennedy seized upon as he questioned the credibility of the entire arrangement. The Louisiana Republican told Noem it was "hard to believe" the president had greenlit such a costly project and added, "Its something we have to defend. Im on the Appropriations Committee. I mean, my research shows that you did not bid them out."
Kennedy went further, alleging that the primary beneficiary of the contract had close personal and professional ties to former DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin and her husband, Benjamin Yoho, who runs the firm that received "most of the money." Durbin and Raskin echoed that concern in their letter, writing, "Even if Secretary Noem was the one telling the truth about the Presidents knowledge, and she may well have been, she flatly misrepresented that the contract had been subject to a competitive bid."
Under federal law, making false statements to Congress is a felony offense, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine that can reach $250,000, a standard Democrats now want applied to a Trump-aligned official they have long sought to discredit. The Trump administration, however, is firmly backing Noem, with a DHS spokesperson telling Fox News Digital, "Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically FALSE."
Democrats, anticipating that the Biden DOJ may be reluctant to prosecute a case that could expose partisan double standards, signaled they are playing a longer game. They wrote, "While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years."
Trump announced earlier this month that Noem would step down as DHS secretary and instead serve as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a military coalition formed under his leadership to bolster regional security and sovereignty. The shift followed bipartisan criticism of Noems stewardship of DHS and the departments aggressive enforcement of Trumps crackdown on illegal immigration, a policy conservatives view as essential to restoring the rule of law at the southern border.
To stabilize DHS and keep his border agenda on track, Trump has nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to succeed Noem, with his confirmation hearing expected this week and likely to become another forum for Democrats to attack the administrations immigration policies. Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to DHS for additional comment on the Democrats letter, underscoring that while the left pursues legal action against a conservative official, the broader fight over border security, executive authority, and the politicization of oversight is far from resolved.
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