Kristi Noem accused of putting out a fake press release about her leaving Trump administration role
Kristi Noem has been accused of putting out a fake press release about her leaving her latest role in Donald Trump’s administration.
The Department of State announced last week that Noem’s time as special envoy to the president’s Shield of the Americas security initiative in the Western Hemisphere had come to an end, but that she would continue at the department as a senior adviser.
Noem quickly shared a release on October 16 with State Department letterhead that said her role at the Shield of the Americas was “always a six-month appointment.” The release, posted on X, also confirmed that she remained a senior advisor at the department.
But it is now being reported that the release was not actually authorized by department heads.
“This was not a press release put out by the State Department,” one person familiar with Noem’s work at the State Department told Politico’s Eric Bazail-Eimil. “Noem went rogue and created a fake letterhead to post on X.”
Noem was fired as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in March, following intense scrutiny of her leadership as she and Trump carried out a massive immigration crackdown that resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens and the detention of a 5-year-old boy in Minnesota.
Trump tapped then-Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma, to replace Noem and moved Noem to the Department of State to carry out her role as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas.
The Independent has reached out to the State Department for comment on the authenticity of the press release Noem shared.
During her tenure at the Homeland Security Department, Noem faced numerous scandals, including a $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign to push the president’s deportation agenda.
In a TV ad shot during the government shutdown last fall, a glammed-up Noem rode horseback against the backdrop of Mount Rushmore in her home state of South Dakota, telling immigrants: “Break our laws, we’ll punish you.”
Last month, Noem officially filed for divorce from long-time husband Bryon Noem, who had been accused of participating in a fetish known as “bimbofication.”
In late March, photos of Bryon in a skin-colored top with two balloons tucked into it to look like huge breasts were published by the Daily Mail. Noem’s mother, Corinne Arnold, told the Mail in July that her daughter started divorce proceedings, calling it a “difficult” time.
Her aide Corey Lewandowski was also back in the news this week over a reported Department of Justice probe into his time at the Homeland Security Department. The Justice Department has been looking into allegations that Lewandowski profited from his position as Noem’s close advisor, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
“He denies any wrongdoing when he was proudly serving his country in a voluntary capacity,” a representative for Lewandowski told the Journal. The representative also said Lewandowski has not been contacted by the DOJ regarding any investigation.
