A sweeping federal investigation into hundreds of millions of dollars in Department of Homeland Security contracts approved under former Secretary Kristi Noem and her close confidant Corey Lewandowski has triggered a preservation order for records across the agency and allegations of systematic obstruction inside one of Washingtons most powerful departments.
According to the New York Post, the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) is scrutinizing fiscal year 2025 grants and contracts, including no-bid agreements tied to a $220 million advertising blitz that prominently featured Noem. Three sources familiar with the matter said DHS employees have been instructed to retain all relevant documents as part of the watchdogs ongoing review.
The inquiry, which touches on both procurement integrity and potential abuses of power, has already exposed deep tensions between the inspector general and senior political leadership.
Investigators have reportedly been systematically obstructed as they pursue multiple lines of inquiry, with Noem allegedly attempting to oust Inspector General Joseph Cuffari on two separate occasions before her departure, only to be blocked by the White House, according to sources and internal records. Congressional leaders were advised this month that one of the ongoing probes facing interference is a federal criminal investigation with national security implications, underscoring the seriousness of the allegations.
The friction between oversight officials and political appointees raises familiar concerns about transparency and accountability inside sprawling federal bureaucracies.
Two sources indicated that, as part of the contracts review, Cuffaris office has reached out to several personnel at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), where Madison Sheahan a close Lewandowski ally served as deputy director until January.
Sheahan resigned from that post earlier this year to mount a congressional campaign in Ohio, placing her squarely at the intersection of federal contracting, political influence, and electoral ambition. The outreach to ICE staff suggests investigators are probing how far Lewandowskis network extended into operational agencies.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) told the Post on March 11 that his committee began looking into a lot of contracts shortly after Noems congressional testimony about the ad campaign. He added that Corey had his hands in a lot and probably should not have, a pointed rebuke from a Republican lawmaker who otherwise has been a consistent critic of Biden-era border failures. Garbarinos comments reflect a broader conservative concern that taxpayer dollars must be guarded from cronyism and self-dealing, regardless of which party controls the executive branch.
Noem had testified that all contracts exceeding $100,000 required her personal approval, a policy that in practice delayed certain disaster relief disbursements and even funding for segments of the border wall. That approach also concentrated unprecedented authority over the contracting process in the secretarys office, blurring the line between legitimate oversight and political micromanagement. Kara Voorhies, a former senior adviser to Noem who wielded significant influence over contracting decisions, is likewise under scrutiny by congressional Republicans, as first reported by NOTUS on March 13.
Both Noem and Lewandowski have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing as questions mount over how the massive ad campaign was conceived, awarded, and executed. The DHS OIG declined to confirm or deny the existence of the probe when contacted Wednesday, adhering to its standard policy of not commenting on active investigations. A spokesperson for Sheahans campaign said she had not been contacted by the inspector generals office about any inquiry.
Representatives for DHS and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, leaving key questions about internal oversight and political pressure unanswered. The Daily Mail was the first outlet to report on elements of the contracting investigation, which has since widened and drawn bipartisan attention on Capitol Hill. For conservatives who have long argued that the federal government has grown too large and unaccountable, the silence from current DHS leadership will only deepen skepticism.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) and other Republicans sharply criticized Noem during hearings earlier this month, accusing her of putting the president in a terribly awkward spot over the taxpayer-funded television spots that showcased her as the face of the campaign. One of the ads depicted the former South Dakota governor on horseback in front of Mount Rushmore, promising an American dream as big as these endless skies to immigrants who enter the United States legally and deportation for those who come illegally. The imagery and message were broadly aligned with conservative priorities on border enforcement, but the financing and self-promotion have drawn intense scrutiny.
According to a partial invoice obtained by Senate Democrats, taxpayers were billed $20,000 for horse rentals and $3,781 for hair and makeup, among other production costs. Those line items, while small in the context of a $220 million campaign, have become symbolic of what critics see as a culture of excess and self-aggrandizement within the federal bureaucracy. For many on the right, the problem is not the message of deterrence to illegal migrants, but the apparent use of public funds to elevate a single officials profile.
Ben Yoho, head of The Strategy Group, which was subcontracted for the Mount Rushmore shoot, said in a statement that his firm was engaged by Safe America Media to provide video and audio production totaling just $226,137.17 of the $220 million. In addition, TSG received a signing fee from Safe America Media that was fully documented and disclosed to Congress, Yoho added, noting that This information was swiftly communicated to address inaccuracies in public reporting and ensure the record accurately reflects the scope of our work. Yoho is married to former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, another link between political operatives and lucrative federal work.
Safe America Media itself was incorporated only days before it received $143 million under a DHS contract for the ad campaign, an arrangement that has raised red flags among watchdogs and lawmakers alike. Another firm, People Who Think, secured a $77 million contract, further illustrating how a small circle of vendors benefited from the initiative. The timing and scale of those awards will likely be central to any determination of whether procurement rules were skirted or manipulated.
Noem told Kennedy during her testimony that President Trump tasked her with getting the message out that illegal immigrants needed to self-deport, framing the campaign as a direct response to presidential direction. Trump later contradicted that account, telling Reuters, I never knew ?anything about it, distancing himself from both the contracts and the political fallout. Shortly after Noems back-to-back appearances before Senate and House panels, where lawmakers pressed her for details about the ad deals, Trump dismissed her from her DHS post.
Lewandowski, who departed DHS soon after Noem, had reportedly kept senior aides on a tight leash and exercised significant control over the approval of multiple departmental contracts. NBC News reported that he allegedly sought additional payments for himself in at least one instance, a claim that, if substantiated, would reinforce accusations of a pay-to-play culture. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, charged at a Wednesday hearing that Lewandowski had used his position and close relationship with Noem to steer contracts and sweetheart deals to his cronies in a pay-to-play scheme that has him under investigation.
Lewandowski has long described himself as an unpaid volunteer for Trumps White House, a characterization that sits uneasily alongside allegations of influence-peddling and personal enrichment. The final straw for Trump in removing Noem, however, was her refusal to deny having sexual relations with Lewandowski when questioned by House lawmakers, according to sources familiar with the matter. Noem has been married to her husband Bryon for 34 years, and the couple share three children, making the personal dimension of the scandal particularly fraught for a Republican base that values family stability and marital fidelity.
Following her ouster from DHS, Noem was reassigned to the State Department as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas after the Senate confirmed former Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as the new DHS secretary. She has brought several trusted allies with her, including former acting general counsel Joseph Mazzara, ensuring that her influence within the federal apparatus did not disappear entirely. For conservatives wary of entrenched bureaucratic power, the lateral move raises questions about whether accountability is being meaningfully enforced or merely reshuffled.
Lewandowski who, according to a Post source last year, boasted that he could do whatever the fk I want because DJT will pardon me has since left government service. Never said that. Never asked for a pardon and have no reason to receive one, he insisted earlier this month when confronted with the alleged remark. As the inspector generals work continues and Congress presses for answers, the case is fast becoming a test of whether Washington is willing to police its own, or whether political connections and bureaucratic inertia will once again shield powerful insiders from the consequences of their decisions.
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