DHS Secretary Kristi Noem faced harsh questioning about her alleged extramarital affair with Corey Lewandowski.
March 5 2026, Updated 10:55 a.m. ET
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced tough House questioning over persistent allegations of a sexual relationship with her top advisor, Corey Lewandowski, amid concerns about national security and potential conflicts of interest.
The exchange occurred during a House Judiciary Committee hearing where Noem testified under oath on Wednesday, March 4.
Noem’s husband, Bryon Noem, was present in the hearing room, sitting directly behind her during the initial portion of the testimony.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) explicitly asked Kristi, “At any time during your tenure as director of the Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?”
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‘I Am Shocked’
Kristi Noem was asked about her relationship with Corey Lewandowski.
Kristi did not provide a direct “yes” or “no” answer. She dismissed the questioning as “tabloid garbage” and “insane,” accusing the “liberal left” of attacking conservative women.
“I am shocked that we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today,” Kristi snapped at the California congresswoman. “I would tell you that he is a special government employee who works for the White House. There are thousands of them in the federal government.”
Sydney chided Kristi, saying, “You should be able to answer if someone asks if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate. It’s the easiest. You should want to answer that question.”
“It is garbage,” Kristi balked.
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Kristi Noem is married.
“It’s about your judgment and decision-making,” Sydney said. “It is about conflict of interest. It’s about a national security risk.”
President Donald Trump reportedly rejected making Corey Kristi’s official chief of staff due to the optics of the affair rumors, although Corey remains a key advisor in a “gray-area” part-time position.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) pushed further, asking her to simply say “no” for the record to clear the air. Kristi responded by stating she has “refuted” such claims for years, but again avoided a definitive denial.
“I really think you need to say the word ‘no’ into the record so that you can clear that up,” Jared said.
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Kristi Noem said the rumors are ‘garbage.’
“I think the ridiculousness of this and the tabloids that you are quoting and referencing are insane,” Kristi said. “This is a thing I have refuted for years.”
“Is that no?” Jared pushed.
“This is what you do,” Kristi said to the Florida congressman whom she condemned as part of the “liberal left.”
“You say conservative women are stupid or s—-. I am neither,” she added.
Jared left Kristi speechless when he ended his questioning with a “gift” for the secretary, an official Coast Guard blanket, a nod to allegations that Kristi had Corey fire the Coast Guard pilot of her government plane after he left her blanket behind.
“I got you a new Coast Guard blankie for the one you lost,” Jared said. “This is for you; you don’t leave empty-handed.”
Inside the Pair’s Relationship
Kristi Noem was recently asked about the affair rumors.
Corey serves as a “special government employee” at the DHS, a role that does not require Senate confirmation. In this position, he provides strategic advice to DHS leadership and is able to influence departmental decisions, but works part-time and operates without the standard public oversight that applies to full-time senior officials.
Insiders say the former Trump campaign manager is the “brains” of the DHS operation, though Kristi has repeatedly insisted that she follows the orders of the president and his Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
Reports from The Wall Street Journal noted the duo lived across the street from each other in Washington, D.C., and that Corey was frequently seen entering her government-provided housing.
According to a new book by NBC News reporter Julia Ainsley, titled Undue Process, insiders at DHS claim the pair “don’t hide it” and that their ongoing intimacy is “common knowledge” within the administration.
