Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem didn’t deny an affair with top aide Corey Lewandowski when she was asked under oath during dramatic testimony before Congress.
The shocking exchange about her sex life came on Wednesday as Noem sat for questions before the House Judiciary Committee. Her husband, Bryon, joined her in Congress for a second day and sat behind his wife as lawmakers peppered her with questions.
Bryon Noem had left the hearing to catch a flight, however, by the time the questions got spicy. His rare appearance came as questions have swirl about Noem’s relationship with Lewandowski, a longtime Trump strategist who serves as a special employee at DHS.
Noem refused to directly answer when asked if she is having sexual relations with Lewandowski, calling the question “garbage.”
“Have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) asked Noem.
“I am shocked that we’re going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today,” Noem said in response. “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.”
Kamlager-Dove pushed back, telling Noem: “You should be able to answer if someone asks if you or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate. It’s the easiest. You should be wanting to answer that question.”
“It is garbage,” Noem responded.
“It’s about your judgment and decision making ,’ Kamlager-Dove said. “It is about conflict of interest. It’s about a national security risk.”
Democrats didn’t let up on the topic.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) repeated the allegation and Noem, again, refused to deny the alleged affair.
“I really think you need to say the word ‘no’ into the record so that you can clear that up,” Moskowitz said.
“I think the ridiculousness of this and the tabloids that you are quoting and referencing are insane,” Noem said. “This is a thing I have refuted for years.”
“Is that no?” Moskowitz said.
“This is what you do,” Noem said, blasting him as a member of the “liberal left.”
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“You say conservative women are stupid or sluts. I am neither,” she added.
Moskowitz ended his question time by announcing he had a gift for Noem. He held up a blanket, which was in reference to a report that Noem had the Coast Guard pilot of her government plane fired when he left her blanket behind.
Noem denied that report when questioned about it during the hearing.
“I got you a new Coast Guard blankie for the one you lost,” Moskowitz said. “This is for you, you don’t leave empty-handed.”
Lewandowski, 49, was Trump’s first 2016 campaign manager and widely credited with engineering his victory in the 2016 New Hampshire primary.
However, Lewandowski’s star began to fade after he was accused of manhandling Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields following a Trump press conference in March 2016.
He also served as a “volunteer” adviser to Noem when she was governor of South Dakota.
Noem married Bryon Noem in 1992 in South Dakota. They have three children. Bryon Noem runs an insurance company in Bryant, South Dakota.
Lewandowski has been married to Alison Hardy since 2005.
