The Department of Homeland Security under Kristi Noem turned into an ATM for Republican operatives hoping to make a buck off of multi-million dollar contracts.
Two companies with ties to Kristi Noem’s inner circle raked in millions of dollars from government contracts, Politico reported Thursday.
Safe America Media, which was formed just eight days before it received a massive $220 million ad contract, received at least $15.2 million off of a 12 percent commission, according to an internal DHS memo and three people familiar with contracts. The second firm, People Who Think, received at least $7.7 million from its 10 percent commission on a portion of the $220 million, according to the memo. The memo noted that there was only a “limited competition” for the contracts due to an “urgent and compelling need,” and that the commission rates were beneath industry standard.
Safe America Media LLC then subcontracted Strategy Group, a media company headed by the husband of Tricia McLaughlin, who served as a spokesperson for the DHS. The outgoing secretary was reportedly put in touch with the agency by Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s former adviser and Noem’s rumored beau.
McLaughlin said that Safe America Media was reportedly selected for the contract because of the men who ran it: veteran GOP media operative Mike McElwain and his top ad maker Patrick McCarthy. The duo have ties to a firm that did extensive media buying for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. People Who Think was co-founded by Jay Connaughton, who worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign. The firm worked on a campaign for Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry that also hired Lewandowski and Strategy Group.
The flashing signs indicating corruption don’t stop there.
Lewandowski asked the country’s largest private prison company for bribes in return for receiving contracts from the Department of Homeland Security, according to an exclusive report Thursday from NBC News.
During the presidential transition, Lewandowski told George Zoley, the founder and executive chairman of GEO Group, he wanted payment in return for fostering DHS contracts with the company, a senior DHS official and three people familiar with their discussion told NBC News. At the time, Zoley didn’t want anything to do with the deal.
Months later, after Lewandowski had officially secured a gig as a “special government employee” and top adviser to Noem, Zoley offered to put him on retainer and pay a recurring consulting fee, two industry sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. This time, it was Lewandowski who balked. He wanted to be paid in proportion to the contracts GEO Group secured from DHS. Zoley declined again.
Within weeks of that meeting, Lewandowski told a senior DHS official not to award any more contracts to GEO Group, the senior official told NBC News. GEO Group eventually received a new $121 million contract with DHS in December 2025. GEO Group already held multiple federal contracts worth a total of $1 billion per year.
It’s not clear that Lewandowski received any money for securing government contracts—but it seems he certainly tried. His spokesperson denied that these interactions ever took place.
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