Kristi Noem tells hearing rumors she’s having an affair with her top aide are ‘tabloid garbage’

So, Secretary Gnome, at any time during your tenure as director of Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lowendowski? >> Mr. Chairman, I am shocked that we're going down and pedalling tabloid garbage in this committee today. Reclaiming >> ma'am, one thing that I would tell you is that he is a special government employee who works for the White House. There are thousands of them in the federal government. It is okay for you to be no authority by the question any question making but it is also a question. So what I would say >> and you should be able to answer the question what we do at the department of homeless every single day and without any hesitation >> every single day is to protect this someone is asking you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate. That should be the easiest you should be wanting to answer that question because it is not about your sex. is about your judgment. >> That kind of garbage is about reclaiming my time so that I can hear my time belongs >> time belongs to the gentle lady from California. But it'd be nice if you would let her respond. >> I will. I want to let you know it is about your judgment and decision-making. It is about the 260,000 employees that work under you that want to make sure that you are giving information and making decisions clearly. It is about conflict of interest. It is about a national security risk. Department of Homeland Security was created right after 911 to protect the homeland and DHS has circulated an internal bulletin to law enforcement partners warning that the conflict of the war we're in could inspire lone actors or smallcale cyber activity inside the United States according to a memo obtained by ABC News. So, American lives are at risk. people who work for you are at risk and they want to know that the person at the top, you are making decisions clearly without any sort of cloudiness and that they're your decisions because you're the secretary who was confirmed. That's what this is about. Saving the lives of Americans and not costing them millions of dollars and not having a secretary compromised in her decision-making.

Kristi Noem was asked an excruciatingly direct question about her relationship with her top advisor Corey Lewandowski, minutes after her husband left the room. “At any time during you tenure as director of the Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?” asked California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove at a House hearing on Wednesday. “Mr Chairman I am shocked we are going down and peddling tabloid garbage today at this committee,” Noem replied. Her husband Bryon Noem, who was previously seated just behind her through the hearing, had left the room before the question was asked. The awkward exchange came during Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, at which the DHS boss was also grilled on her responses to the brutal crackdown by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis, which left two protesters dead. It has long been rumored that the secretary and Lewandowski, her top adviser, both of whom are married, have engaged in an extramarital affair. They have repeatedly denied the allegations and the secretary has called them a “disgusting lie.” However, Noem’s refusal to deny the accusation directly led Kamlager Dove to continue. “It is ok for you to be offended by the question,” she said. “But it is a real question and you should be able to answer the question clearly and without any hesitation if someone is asking if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate. “You should be wanting to answer that question because it is not about your sex life, it is about your judgement.” The California congressman said that Lewandowski “has a decades-long record of physical battery sexual harassment, illegal lobbying for a Venezuelan oil company and bringing a loaded gun into a federal building.” “Trump knows that this guy is shady,” she said. Last month a bombshell expose by The Wall Street Journal lifted the lid on the alleged “chaos” of the DHS under Noem and Lewandowski’s leadership, also reviving rumors of their alleged affair. The outlet reported that “the close relationship had already made Trump and his top advisers uncomfortable,” adding that the president had rejected the idea of Lewandowski serving as Noem’s chief of staff “due to reports of a romantic relationship between the two – which he has continued to bring up, officials say.” The Journal also noted that Noem had moved into a government-owned waterfront house on a military base in Washington, D.C., provided for the head of the Coast Guard, after tabloid photos of Lewandowski “showed him going back and forth between his apartment and Noem’s across the street last year.” A DHS spokesperson told The Journal that Noem had moved into the house for security reasons and said she pays rent at the property. The Independent has contacted the DHS for comment about Noem’s questioning at the committee Wednesday. #KristiNoem #CoreyLewandowski #PoliticalScandal #HouseHearing #CongressionalHearing #USPolitics #DHS #BreakingPolitics #WashingtonDC Full article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kristi-noem-affair-corey-lewandowski-hearing-b2932192.html Watch more on Independent TV: https://tinyurl.com/yc7ukx9n The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. Subscribe: https://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Independent Find us on social: TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@independent Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/the.independent/ X (Twitter) / https://twitter.com/Independent Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentOnline Download the iOS & Android app: https://tinyurl.com/2s3ts5dh Sign up to our newsletters: https://tinyurl.com/2bmw565x Help to support truly independent journalism. Every dollar you contribute will directly fund additional special reports and investigations from a free-thinking, award-winning newsroom you can trust: https://www.independent.co.uk/donations