Justice Department prosecutors are investigating allegations of contractual misconduct at the Department of Homeland Security, including the role of Corey Lewandowski who worked as former Secretary Kristi Noem’s de facto chief of staff, according to several people close to the investigation.
The investigation follows a criminal referral against Lewandowski by the DHS Office of Inspector General, which examined the agency’s contracting practices during Noem and Lewandowski’s tenure, according to one of the people familiar with it.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the matter.
“Mr. Lewandowski has not been contacted by the Department of Justice regarding any investigation, and he denies any wrongdoing while he proudly served his country in a voluntary capacity,” Lewandowski’s attorney, Adam Trigg, told CNN.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The dismissal is an unusual move by the Trump administration, which has been reluctant to criminally investigate its own members.
Critics have instead largely accused the Justice Department of inappropriately targeting the president’s political enemies and accused DHS of shielding its own employees from scrutiny.
In recent months, as allegations of possible corruption emerged, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro in Washington, D.C., told officials in her office that she wanted investigators to look into allegations of bribes related to DHS contracts, according to a second source familiar with the investigation.
It remains unclear which U.S. attorney’s office is leading the investigation.
Prosecutors are awaiting the results of the DHS inspector general’s investigation, the person familiar with the matter said.
Lewandowski, a Republican operative, became a fixture at DHS early in President Donald Trump’s second term, serving as a senior adviser to Noem. But on paper, he was initially hired to serve as a special government employee – a unique role meant to span a limited number of days.
Lewandowksi’s straddling senior government position at DHS and his service as a special government employee was uncharted territory, according to several people who spoke to CNN.
Homeland Security officials ultimately viewed Lewandowski, a Trump ally, as Noem’s caretaker. He left the department when Trump fired Noem.
Noem’s handling of contracts at DHS was a key catalyst for her ouster by Trump earlier this year, including when she claimed Trump knew about a $220 million ad campaign highlighting the secretary.
During her tenure, Noem also tightened her grip on her department’s purse strings, ordering that every contract and grant over $100,000 had to go through her office for approval — a move that Noem frequently defended as intended to reduce waste, but that several Homeland Security officials found unusual and unnecessary.
Inspector General Joseph Cuffari complained to Congress in early March that Homeland Security leaders had obstructed some of his work.
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