Corey Lewandowski Demanded ‘Success Fees’ From DHS Contractors: Report

Former Department of Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski allegedly asked a government contractor to pay him “success fees,” according to a report.

Lewandowski, who also served as President Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016, allegedly first asked for the compensation during talks with a company called GEO Group during the transition before Trump took office again in 2025.

Geo Group is a company that works in the private prison industry and had about $1 billion in federal contracts when Trump’s second term began, NBC News reported.

The network quoted multiple unnamed sources who said that GEO Group founder George Zoley refused to pay Lewandowski. After Lewandowski became an adviser to Kristi Noem at DHS, the pair met again.

The sources said that at the second meeting, Zoley offered to put Lewandowski on a retainer with GEO Group, but Lewandowski refused and allegedly told Zoley he was looking to be compensated based on Geo Group receiving new or renewed government contracts.

“He wanted payments — what some people would call a success fee,” the source told NBC News. The network reported that Zoley refused to pay the fees.

The NBC News report comes as Democrats already have demanded an investigation of Lewandowski and former DHS head Noem. The pair were removed earlier this year by President Trump, but during their tenure they implemented a policy where contracts and grants above $100,000 had to be approved by Noem.

“We write with grave concern regarding public reporting on allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Office of Inspector General.

The letter notes that the previous threshold for the DHS secretary to approve contracts was $25 million. Noem reduced it to $100,000 in July 2025.

“Subsequently, the Wall Street Journal reported that at Mr. Lewandowski’s urging, DHS has moved away from continuing long-term contracts in favor of new contracts, most of which are subject to the $100,000 approval policy,” the letter stated.

Also, the letter noted that Lewandowski was added to DHS as a special adviser, which meant he was not subject to financial disclosure requirements.

“(Lewandowski) has had ample opportunity to continue pursuing his business interests in the private sector while simultaneously playing a key role in awarding DHS contracts. Mr. Lewandowski’s outsized role and questionable actions have not gone unnoticed even within the Trump Administration,” the letter states.