President Donald Trump has been questioning aides about the role of longtime adviser Corey Lewandowski in a roughly $220 million Department of Homeland Security advertising campaign featuring former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to reporting by NBC News, which cited people familiar with the conversations.
The inquiries come days after Trump removed Noem from her position following contentious congressional hearings examining DHS contracting practices and the costly advertising initiative. The campaign, which highlighted the administration's immigration enforcement message, became a focal point during the hearings on Capitol Hill.
A senior White House official told NBC News that Trump repeatedly raised the topic with advisers. "He's mentioned the ads several times," the official said.
Trump also publicly distanced himself from the campaign after Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had signed off on the spending. Shortly before announcing her dismissal, Trump disputed that claim.
"I didn't know anything about that," Trump told Reuters.
The advertising initiative drew criticism from lawmakers in both parties during the hearings. Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana questioned whether such a large expenditure of federal funds was justified.
"It troubles me," Kennedy said during the Senate hearing. "A fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer money, when we're scratching for every penny, and we're fighting over recision packages ... I just can't agree with it."
Noem defended the advertising effort before the committee, arguing the campaign had succeeded.
"They were effective," Noem said.
Kennedy responded sharply: "They were effective in your name recognition."
According to reporting by ProPublica, the DHS advertising initiative relied on large contracts that were awarded without competitive bidding.
Federal contracting records cited in that reporting show the campaign involved several agreements:
- $143 million no-bid contract awarded to Safe America Media
- $77 million no-bid contract awarded to People Who Think, a Louisiana-based firm
- Subcontracting work involving Strategy Group, run by consultant Ben Yoho
Following the congressional hearings, Strategy Group issued a statement addressing its role in the project. The firm said: "Safe America paid us $226,137.17 total for [five] film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements and [six] produced radio advertisements."
Lewandowski, who has served as a "special government employee" advising Noem at DHS, denied receiving any financial benefit from the contracts.
In an interview with NBC News, Lewandowski said he received "zero, not one penny."
Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Peter Welch of Vermont have launched their own inquiry into the contracts, according to NBC News, sending letters to Safe America Media, Strategy Group and People Who Think requesting documentation of their agreements with DHS.
Lewandowski, who first worked with Trump as campaign manager during the president's 2016 campaign, said he had spoken with Trump several times in the days before Noem was removed but that the president never raised the issue directly with him.
"Since I've known the guy for 11 years, I think it's fair to say if he had a concern about something I was doing, he would raise it," Lewandowski told NBC News.
