Articles & Videos

12315 items
All PoliticsPolicyEconomyRights & JusticeInternationalClimate & EnvironmentTechnologyHealthMediaCulture & Society

Select Date Range

Noem Flails When Asked if She Had “Sexual Relations” With DHS Adviser
New Republic • 1 week ago

Noem Flails When Asked if She Had “Sexual Relations” With DHS Adviser

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem got hot under the collar when asked if she was sleeping with one of her employees.Corey Lewandowski’s official title at DHS is that of an unpaid, temporary “special government employee,” but for years, the rumor around Washington has been that he’s also Noem’s paramour. Multiple sources told New York magazine’s Ben Terris last year that the two have a romantic relationship. Noem was spotted on Lewandowski’s lap during one conservative conference in 2019; a FEMA official later told Terris their entanglement was the “worst-kept secret in D.C.”In a House Judiciary hearing Wednesday, California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked Noem if she has had sexual relations with Lewandowski during her time at DHS.Noem reacted with indignation. “I’m shocked we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this hearing,” she said, before proceeding to talk over Kamlager-Dove while the representative tried to reclaim her time.“You should be able to answer … if someone is asking if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate.… You should be wanting to answer that question,” Kamlager-Dove said.“It’s garbage,” Noem shot back. “It’s offensive.”KAMLAGER-DOVE: At any point in your tenure at DHS, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski? NOEM: I'm surprised we're peddling tabloid garbage in this hearingKAMLAGER-DOVE: You should be able to answer if someone asks if you or any federal official is sleeping… pic.twitter.com/q6CQoVTVtb— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 4, 2026With the help of Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Kamlager-Dove reclaimed her time.“It’s about your judgment and decision-making,” Kamlager-Dove said. “It’s about the 260,000 employees that work under you that want to make sure that you are giving information and making decisions clearly. It is about conflict of interest. It is about a national security risk.”That Noem sleeping with an employee could present a national security risk may sound silly, but Lewandowski has already been handed inexplicable access to the department. Axios determined that Lewandowski has been present at DHS headquarters for far longer than his temporary contract permitted as a special government employee, while Politico reported that he has had oversight over six-figure DHS contracts in his role. Former DHS employee Cameron Hamilton told Terris that he was fired by Lewandowski while the latter sat and smirked from behind Noem’s desk.So yes, Lewandowski already holds a concerning amount of power with DHS. Fortunately, Noem dodging questions about their relationship will only bring more scrutiny on how America’s top security official likes to mix business with pleasure. “Tabloid garbage,” indeed.

Noem Can’t Explain Why She Hired 8-Day-Old Company for Ad Campaign
New Republic • 1 week ago

Noem Can’t Explain Why She Hired 8-Day-Old Company for Ad Campaign

The Department of Homeland Security tapped a little-known ad firm to produce Kristi Noem’s multimillion-dollar ad campaign during the government shutdown last year. But when asked to explain her rationale before a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, Noem was practically speechless.Reading off a DHS notice, Colorado Representative Joe Neguse noted that the department had identified just four companies “out of the hundreds of thousands of companies in the United States” as potential hires for the campaign. “One of those is this Safe America Media Company. Where is Safe America Media headquartered?” asked Colorado Representative Joe Neguse.“I don’t know,” Noem replied.DHS paid Safe America Media $143 million in no-bid contracts between February and August 2025 to produce a slate of anti-immigrant ads for ICE Barbie. Months later, ProPublica reported that it was unlikely Safe America Media, which was formed just eight days before it won the DHS contract, would have been able to handle a nine-figure government contract. However, subcontractors are not required to be made public in federal contracting databases, effectively allowing the whopping taxpayer sum to vanish in an untraceable dark-money network. Exactly where and to whom Safe America Media dished out its millions is still unclear, though the consulting company behind one of Noem’s late 2025 videos spilled the beans.The money from Noem’s agency was funneling directly into the pockets of her friends and allies at the Strategy Group, a group with myriad ties to the ex–South Dakota governor, including having once employed her alleged beau (Corey Lewandowski) and a CEO who is married to Noem’s ex-chief DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.Safe America Media, meanwhile, has no website, no experience, and quiet contracts. The only substantial evidence that the company actually exists at all is that it shares an address with a property owned by veteran Republican operative Michael McElwain.“Is there a problem with this contract?” drawled the secretary.“You want the American people to believe that this is all above board, that $143 million of taxpayer money just happened to go to this one company that doesn’t have a headquarters, doesn’t have a website, has never done work for the federal government before, and is registered apparently or attached to a residence from a political operative, and of course one of the subcontractors of that contract, as you know, is a political firm that’s tied to, to you back when you were governor of South Dakota?” pressed Neguse. “The reason why I ask these questions is because this is taxpayer money.“Eventually the facts will become public in this regard.”Neguse: Where is this company headquartered? Noem: I don’t know.Neguse: I don’t know either. We can’t find it. We did find an address that’s registered to a political operative. This company that received 143 million dollars was incorporated 8 days before this contract went… pic.twitter.com/wxRi9NJ7Lb— Acyn (@Acyn) March 4, 2026

Republicans Join Democrats to Subpoena Pam Bondi Over Epstein
New Republic • 1 week ago

Republicans Join Democrats to Subpoena Pam Bondi Over Epstein

The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the government’s release of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Five Republicans joined every Democrat on the committee to approve of the summons: Representatives Tim Burchett, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, Michael Cloud, and Scott Perry. The Department of Justice has been under fire from Republicans and Democrats alike for redacting some files relating to President Trump and administration officials, yet leaving victims’ personal information and some explicit photos unredacted. Wow. Breaking.House Oversight Committee just voted to SUBPOENA AG Pam Bondi, 24-19.5 Republicans joined w Democrats: Burchett, Boebert, Cloud, Mace and Perry. pic.twitter.com/t1jhK6ApYN— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) March 4, 2026But recently, the DOJ was found to have removed 47,635 files from its publicly accessible archive, including files concerning allegations against Trump. Plus, Bondi has not acquitted herself well before Congress, having a disastrous hearing with the committee last month where she leveled insults at members of the committee and repeatedly dodged questions about Epstein. Bondi will now have to sit for a closed-door taped deposition with the committee, not unlike former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Mace, according to PBS Newshour, wants to focus on Jeffrey Epstein. However, there’s a host of other issues with Bondi’s tenure heading the DOJ, including disobeying court orders and mass resignations across the department. Those issues are unlikely to come up in this deposition, though. If Bondi chooses not to respond to the subpoena, the agency tasked with enforcing it is her own DOJ, meaning that the only thing compelling her to testify is reputation and appearance. Bondi has already ruined the DOJ’s reputation, and made a fool of herself before Congress. What will happen this time?This story has been updated.

12...116117118119120...13681369