Kristi Noem’s axing from the Department of Homeland Security will likely mean she will also lose the waterfront home where she has spent time with her alleged lover.
Noem moved into a Coast Guard house at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling last August, claiming she needed protection after receiving threats.
At the time, the Washington Post reported that she was living rent-free, and the DHS did not refute the claim.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin accused Noem of “living rent-free in the official waterfront residence reserved for the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.”
But during her car crash testimony on Capitol Hill this week, Noem insisted she was paying her way.
“Let me clarify a couple things,” she said. “I’m not in the commandant’s house. I’m in a Coast Guard house, but not the commandant’s house,” she told the House Judiciary Committee. “The commandant is in his house.”
“I rent that facility. I rent where I stay and pay personal dollars to do that,” she insisted.
Raskin also claimed Noem spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury travel around the country, often using a Boeing 737 jet with a plush bedroom and lounge area.
Noem had said that the plane was being “refurbished” for use as a deportation plane.
The former secretary, nicknamed “ICE Barbie” because of her penchant for dressing up for photo ops when visiting DHS agents, still has a close relationship with her alleged lover and special adviser, Corey Lewandowski, according to reports.
But her presence on the base created friction, NBC claimed in a report.
“There is a general atmosphere of ‘keep your head down, you don’t want to be on the firing line,’” a former Coast Guard official told NBC News.
Noem’s husband, Byron, attended Noem’s congressional appearances before the House and Senate this week.
The president announced Noem’s departure in a Truth Social post on Thursday. He also said that Senator Markwayne Mullin, a former plumber and one-time MMA fighter, would be her replacement.
Noem has been given a new position as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
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