ICE Barbie Kristi Noem is not the only top administration official out of a job this week.
Also departing Homeland Security is Noem’s alleged lover, Corey Lewandowski, who was her unofficial second-in-command during her 14-month stint in the president’s cabinet.
MS NOW and the New York Post have confirmed the 52-year-old Lewandowski will no longer serve as a senior adviser at DHS, ending what sources described as a “reign of terror.” The department will soon be run by Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin if he is confirmed by the Senate.
Insiders told the Post that Lewandowski was Noem’s de facto chief of staff, in which he “tightly controlled department operations, building a reputation for abruptly firing staff and instilling fear among fellow Trump aides.”
Together, Noem and Lewandowski ordered raids on blue cities, lied about the circumstances that preceded federal agents killing two American citizens, and spent an eye-popping $220 million on a vanity ad campaign, which President Donald Trump says he did not approve.
The Post reached Lewandowski by phone, who refused to condemn Noem’s firing.
“I would never try and assume to get in the mind of President Trump,” Lewandowski told the Post when asked why his boss was fired. “I think he has his reasons for everything he does, and we have seen enormous success from his leadership at the White House.”
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Noem 54, and Lewandowski are both married with a combined seven children, but their romantic relationship has been described as one of Washington’s “worst-kept secrets.”
Even Trump has weighed in on the scandal. He “frequently” tells a story about witnessing the pair take sips from the same can of soda—an obvious tell, at least in the eyes of the germaphobe president, that they are romantically involved.
“You can’t do that, it’s pretty obvious!” Trump is quoted as saying. “You can’t do that, everyone’s going to know!”
Their affair, which the Daily Beast has reported on as far back as February 2025, spilled firmly into public view in February after it was revealed they were jetting across the country in a 737 MAX airliner with a private cabin at its rear.
Lewandowski, despite being an unpaid DHS volunteer, even went as far as to order a Coast Guard pilot fired after Noem’s blanket was forgotten when a maintenance issue forced them to switch planes, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.
His involvement with Noem is not the first time Lewandowski has been accused of cheating on his wife of more than 20 years. Michael Wolff’s 2018 book Fire and Fury revealed that he also had a romantic relationship with the former Trump adviser Hope Hicks during Trump’s first term.
Wolff’s reporting revealed that Trump was aware of that alleged affair, too. The Inside Trump’s Head co-host said Trump even told Hicks, now 37, that she was “the best piece of tail” that Lewandowski would ever have.
Lewandowski, who was Trump’s campaign manager in 2016, has also been accused of making unwanted advances toward women. GOP donor Trashelle Odom accused him of repeatedly touching her, stalking her, and making sexually explicit comments to her at a charity dinner in 2021.
“I felt like I was his prey,” she told CBS News in 2024, alleging that he placed his hands in her lap without permission as they sat at dinner. “He was very persistent, aggressive.”
Lewandowski was subsequently charged with criminal sexual harassment. The official struck a plea deal which required him to complete “impulse control training,” pay a $1,000 fine, and apologize to Odom. Separately, Lewandowski was also accused of slapping musician Joy Villa’s butt without permission at a Christmas party in 2017.
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