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Rumors of an affair<\/a> between Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump administration political adviser Corey Lewandowski have been flying for months.<\/p>\n And all that flying, it turns out, might come with a big price tag for taxpayers.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported<\/a> Thursday that Noem and Lewandowski have recently been traveling together aboard a luxury Boeing 737 MAX jet that includes a private cabin in the rear. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is “leasing the plane but is in the process of acquiring it for approximately $70 million,” the Journal<\/em> reports, citing people familiar with the plane.<\/p>\n That is just one small detail amid the explosive and deeply reported piece<\/a>, which details a pattern of behavior that is both self-aggrandizing and petty. In one incident, Lewandowski reportedly fired a Coast Guard pilot for leaving Noem’s blanket on a plane (it is unclear whether that was the 737 MAX or a different plane), only to reinstate the pilot when a replacement could not be found. The report comes at a time when Noem is under intense scrutiny for her role in ordering the high-profile and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis<\/a> that led to the deaths of two American citizens at the hands of federal officers.<\/p>\n The salacious rumors of an affair between Noem and Lewandowski\u2014both of whom are married to other people\u2014surface repeatedly in the Journal’<\/em>s article<\/a> but have been denied by the two officials.<\/p>\n The deeper, indisputable truth is that taxpayers are being forced to support an aircraft-buying binge at the DHS that goes beyond the alleged adultery airplane used by Noem and Lewandowski.<\/p>\n Last year, the department purchased a fleet of six\u00a0commercial jets<\/a>, ostensibly to carry out deportation flights, at a cost of $140 million. It is unclear whether Noem’s plane with the private cabin is one of those or an additional plane.<\/p>\n The aircraft in question was apparently identified last year<\/a> by The War Zone,\u00a0<\/em>a blog covering the national security state. The plane has a cabin configuration designed to accommodate 17 passengers and was being marketed at the time for its “extremely luxurious interior layout that includes two suites with full-size beds and a master bathroom with a shower stall, among many other amenities,” according to a brochure reviewed by The War Zone<\/em>.<\/p>\n Even if Noem and Lewandowski are not using the plane for, um, activities that go beyond their official duties<\/em>, there ought to be hard questions asked about whether taxpayers are getting screwed.<\/p>\n Indeed, there was a time\u2014not even a year ago\u2014when the Trump administration was promising to cut wasteful spending and hold government officials accountable to taxpayers. If the Journal<\/em>‘s reporting<\/a> turns out to be accurate, the mess at DHS<\/a> looks a lot like the complete opposite of that.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n