‘Chaos’ Inside DHS Exposed As Damning Report Accuses Kristi Noem of Petty Firings and Airtime Obsessions

A report in the Wall Street Journal describes Kristi Noem’s leadership at the Department of Homeland Security as “chaos.”

The expose’s revelations include the berating of employees, including the use of polygraph tests on those deemed disloyal, and sudden firings. In one example, the newspaper reported that a Coast Guard pilot was fired after her blanket was left on a plane.

The report also revives rumors that Noem and advisor Corey Lewandowski, who are both married, are having an affair. Last year, The Daily Mail photographed Lewandowski with a duffel bag leaving Noem’s apartment. At the time, Noem lived across the street from Lewandowski.

The WSJ reported that after the Daily Mail report Noem “moved into a government-owned waterfront house on a military base in Washington that is provided to the leader of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard falls under Noem’s purview at DHS during peacetime. Lewandowski also spends time at the house.”

Fox News reported in 2021 that Noem dismissed the rumors: “These rumors are total garbage and a disgusting lie.”

Noem has yet to address the report publicly. The International Business Times has reached out to DHS for a response regarding the Wall Street Journal report.

The expose comes a Noem faces increasing scrutiny over her handling of DHS. When federal agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents in Minnesota, Noem quickly called them “domestic terrorists” before the shootings were investigated. In the Pretti case, Noem said that he approached officers brandishing a gun, but video contradicted her statements and showed that Pretti never displayed a gun.

Minnesota authorities have said that Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse for the Department of Veteran Affairs, had a permit for a firearm and was legally carrying it when shot. “It destroys the trust in ICE…I see nothing here, I mean not even a hint of something that was aggressive on his part,” Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky said in reviewing footage.

Following the Pretti shooting, Noem and Lewandowski worked to ensure they maintained their relationship with the President, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the newspaper they met with the President in the aftermath, and days later they attended the Mar-a-Lago wedding of Dan Scavino, a Trump political adviser.

Although Trump has resisted calls to oust Noem, he did take some action, elevating border czar Tom Homan and sending him to Minnesota to take charge. This week, Homan announced the end of the Minnesota operation.