Kristi Noem Faces Criminal Referral After Lawmakers Accuse Her of Lying to Congress About DHS Contracts

Questions about Kristi Noem and her time leading the Department of Homeland Security are intensifying after congressional Democrats called for a criminal investigation into the former secretary.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting a criminal referral tied to testimony Noem gave earlier this month. The lawmakers claim several statements she made during oversight hearings may have violated federal laws related to perjury and false statements.

“A number of her statements appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress,” the letter said. Lawmakers also wrote that Noem “made a series of demonstrably false statements in a brazen attempt to undermine critical congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.”

The referral focuses on four major areas of her testimony. According to the letter, those topics include whether DHS followed court orders, the role of Corey Lewandowski in agency contracts, whether immigration enforcement detained U.S. citizens, and the contracting process for a $220 million advertising campaign that prominently featured Noem.

That ad campaign drew sharp questioning during a Senate hearing when Sen. John Kennedy pressed Noem about whether the contracts went through a competitive bidding process.

Noem told lawmakers the advertising deal did go through a competitive process and that “career officials at the Department chose who would do those advertising commercials.” When asked whether Donald Trump knew about the campaign’s cost, she said he did.

However, Trump later contradicted that claim in an interview with Reuters, fueling further scrutiny from lawmakers.

Making false statements to Congress is a felony that can carry up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Despite the accusations, the Trump administration has publicly defended Noem. A DHS spokesperson said, “Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically FALSE.”

Noem was removed earlier this month as homeland security secretary and reassigned by Trump to serve as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a military coalition initiative. Meanwhile, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma has been nominated to take over the department and is expected to face a confirmation hearing soon.