Kristi Noem’s multimillion-dollar immigration ad campaign — starring Noem herself on horseback beneath Mount Rushmore — has detonated into a full-blown political scandal in Washington, with lawmakers demanding answers about how a firm closely tied to the DHS secretary managed to profit from a $220 million taxpayer-funded contract.
Five senators and two representatives have now pressed the Department of Homeland Security for documents, communications, and an inspector general investigation into the deal, after ProPublica revealed that a Republican consulting firm with deep personal and political ties to Noem secretly helped produce the ads. The firm, the Strategy Group, has been entwined with Noem’s political rise for years — and its chief executive is married to Noem’s top DHS spokesperson.
Under Noem, DHS sidestepped the standard competitive bidding system, routing most of the money through a freshly minted Delaware LLC created just days before the contract was finalized. The Strategy Group’s fingerprints were nowhere on the paperwork, even though ProPublica found the firm had quietly directed a shoot for the ads — including the cinematic clip of Noem riding a horse toward the camera.
Senate Democrats Ruben Gallego, Gary Peters, Richard Blumenthal, and Andy Kim wrote to the DHS inspector general demanding an investigation into whether the agency violated federal contracting laws “designed to prevent self-dealing.” Sen. Peter Welch sent a separate request. In the House, Reps. Bennie Thompson and Robert Garcia demanded all internal and external communications tied to the deal, accusing Noem of “lining your friends’ pockets at the taxpayer’s expense.”
Democrats didn’t mince words. Rep. Jasmine Crockett blasted the arrangement as “what corruption looks like,” while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on Noem to resign outright.
According to ProPublica, the Strategy Group’s undisclosed work for DHS goes far beyond a single shoot. The firm built Noem’s last gubernatorial campaign and has long worked with her senior aide at DHS, Corey Lewandowski. The DHS Office of Public Affairs — which funded the ad contracts — is run by Tricia McLaughlin, who is married to the Strategy Group’s CEO, Ben Yoho. McLaughlin insists she recused herself, saying she had “a conflict of interest,” though the extent of that recusal remains unclear.
Federal contracting specialists told ProPublica the arrangement raises glaring red flags — the sort rarely ignored by watchdogs. But DHS brushed aside questions, saying only that its contracting is done “by the book” and that the agency doesn’t choose subcontractors.
The inspector general’s office, as usual, declined to confirm or deny an investigation.
Still, on Capitol Hill, the mood has shifted. A $220 million ad blitz meant to project Noem as tough and in command has instead spotlighted a different image: a DHS chief accused of funneling public money through a shadowy shell company to political allies who helped build her career — and may now help bring it crashing down.
