EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is asked to "preserve all internal records" concerning Corey Lewandowski
WASHINGTON — The US Department of Homeland Security has been asked to “preserve all communications and internal records” about the work conducted by Corey Lewandowski, an ardent ally of President Trump who has served as a special advisor to outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The ranking members of three US House committees launched a probe this morning into Lewandowski’s controversial tenure at the agency. The inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security argued Lewandowski has “exercised outsized influence over the Department of Homeland Security, far beyond what a (special government employee is authorized to do.”
The top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee, the House Oversight Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee accused Lewandowski of serving as a “shadow chief-of-staff” to Noem, amid the tumult inside the agency. They alleged Lewandowski might have violated rules and restrictions of designated Special Government Employees.
Among the records being requested by the committee Democrats are: “All communications, including social media messages, Signal chats, and other official and personal communications, between Mr. Lewandowski and all employees, contractors, and advisors of the Department of Homeland Security and component agencies regarding Department of Homeland Security personnel decisions, contracting decisions, and other DHS operations.”
The committee Democrats are also seeking communications and documents showing Lewandowski’s involvement in contract decisions and his personal financial interests. The letter to Noem’s office said the committee ranking members want copies of, “All documents and communications concerning Mr. Lewandowski, including all financial disclosures and recusals due to conflicts of interest.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return requests for comment about inquiries from Democrats into Lewandowski.
In a separate memo sent Wednesday morning, the committee Democrats requested Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari to launch a review of Lewandowsi. Their 4-page request raised questions about Lewandowski’s role in potentially doling out taxpayer-funded contract awards. Their memo to Cuffari said “Due to Mr. Lewandowski’s status as a (special government employee), and the Department of Homeland Security’s refusal to release his financial disclosure information, he has had ample opportunity to continue pursuing his business interests in the private sector while simultaneously playing a key role in awarding DHS contracts.”
Lewandowski’s role was the subject of questioning at a March 3 hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, in which Noem faced questions. Noem answered “No” when asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, if Lewandowski had a role in approving contracts at the agency. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have alleged Noem’s statement should be investigated as a potential false statement to Congress. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security responded to that allegation in a statement to me Sunday that said “Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically false.”
The House Oversight Committee’s ranking member Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, had requested Lewandowski’s financial disclosures from the Office of Government Ethics in September. In a statement Wednesday, Rep. Garcia and the two other ranking committee Democrats said the records had not yet been provided.
The other leading Democrats who have launched the new inquiry into Lewandowski are Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who has long held his party’s top post on the House Homeland Security, and Rep. Rick Larsen. Larsen, a longtime Congressman from Washington state, is the top Democrat on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
In their memo, the Democrats told the Homeland Security Department “We demand DHS preserve all communications and internal records concerning Mr. Lewandowski’s role within the Department, as well as the Department’s practices, policies, and procedures related to contracting, personnel, and the handling of classified materials. Any deviation from standard record-keeping will be treated as an attempt to hide or destroy evidence.”
Noem’s tenure at the Department of Homeland Security has been tumultuous. The agency’s aggressive and forceful approach to immigration enforcement in U.S. cities has led to a series of federal civil lawsuits and is blamed by critics for the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in recent months.
Noem is already under scrutiny in Congress for a $220-million dollar taxpayer-funded advertisement campaign, which prominently featured Noem herself. In the days after her testimony to a pair of Congressional committees this month, Noem was reassigned by Trump to a non-Cabinet role as a special envoy.
Trump has nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a first-term Oklahoma Republican, to be Noem’s successor.
