Corey Lewandowski had a prominent decision-making role in the Department of Homeland Security when it was led by Kristi Noem, his rumored lover, internal emails and Signal messages show.
Lewandowski, who was at the department from January 2025 to March 2026, was an adviser to Noem as a special government employee, but was also described as her “de facto chief of staff.” During their tenure, questions mounted about the true scope of Lewandowski’s influence, and about their rumored affair, which they have denied.
Now, new information reveals the former Trump 2016 campaign manager was involved in planning deportations of illegal immigrants to third countries, as well as the controversy over the deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García to El Salvador.
In emails and Signal messages obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by liberal watchdog group American Oversight and shared with Politico, senior DHS officials showed “considerable and unusual deference” to Lewandowski, considering he was only a special government employee, the outlet writes.
In one instance, Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar directed aide Clark Barrow to file a report with “S1 and Corey,” he wrote in an email, referring to Noem.
Lewandowski was Donald Trump’s first campaign manager.
Then-DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, then-ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, and then-DHS senior official Joseph Mazzara each updated Lewandowski via Signal chat about various department projects.
Additionally, according to the report, Lewandowski often received the same high-level briefings that Noem and Edgar did. One concerned a deportation case, while another related to DHS operations in the East African country of Djibouti. The nature of that latter briefing wasn’t revealed, but eight noncitizens in ICE custody were stranded at the country’s U.S. naval base last year after a court blocked their deportation flight to Sudan.
Noem is currently a senior adviser to the deputy secretary of state.
Lewandowski enjoyed seeing deportations carried out, the messages also make clear.
On July 5, 2025, in response to hearing about the completion of a deportation to South Sudan, Lewandowski replied, “Praise Jesus.”
Later that month, Lewandowski declared, “I love deportations.” Then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons replied, “And they are only going to get better sir!”
Lewandowski’s July 5, 2025 message
Lewandowski’s message ten days later
Politico writes that Noem was “absent in many of the exchanges,” and “only chimed in sporadically in exchanges dominated by Lewandowski.”
Lewandowski, 53, declined to comment to Politico, as did DHS. A representative for Noem, 54, did not respond to a request for comment.
McLaughlin declined to discuss Lewandowski’s involvement in DHS affairs, telling Politico that the messages showed her doing her job.
Lyons and Sheahan did not respond to requests for comment from Politico.
The Daily Beast has reached out to DHS, Lewandowski and a representative for Noem.
American Oversight called on Congress to investigate.
“These messages reveal a disturbing culture of cruelty at the highest levels of the department and, even more troubling, are exactly the kind of messages the department once claimed it was no longer preserving. The public should not have to rely on federal lawsuits to learn what senior government officials are saying and doing behind closed doors,” Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement.
“As some of the officials involved still hold positions of power at DHS, and legal challenges to third party removals are still being litigated, Congress has a duty to investigate — to demand answers, obtain every record of how these decisions were made, and put those officials under oath. When the people running the deportation machine celebrate human suffering behind closed doors, the public deserves to see every word. Proper oversight is nonnegotiable.”
Lewandowski already faces a Justice Department probe for allegedly grifting off of his top position at DHS. He denies the claims.
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