Kristi Noem accused of putting out a fake press release about her leaving Trump administration role

Kristi Noem is accused of publishing an unauthorized press release on State Department letterhead to explain the end of Noem's assignment as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. The department had said the previous week that the envoy stint was over and that Noem would stay on as a senior adviser. On October 16, Noem posted on X a statement describing the envoy job as a six-month appointment from the start. A person familiar with Noem's work told Politico's Eric Bazail-Eimil that the department never issued it and that Noem made the letterhead independently, according to The Independent.

Noem lost the Homeland Security post in March after criticism of an immigration crackdown that saw two American citizens fatally shot and a boy aged 5 detained in Minnesota. President Donald Trump picked Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as successor and sent Noem to the State Department.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department is examining whether Corey Lewandowski profited from serving as Noem's close adviser at Homeland Security. A representative denied wrongdoing and said the department has not contacted Lewandowski.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →