Kristi Noem referred to DOJ and accused of perjury in ‘brazen’ false statements about $220 million DHS advert marketing campaign | EUROtoday

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “repeatedly misled” lawmakers in a “brazen” try and skirt accountability, in accordance with two senior Democratic members of Congress, who’ve referred the Trump administration official to the Justice Department for a perjury investigation.

“After months of evading our Committees’ requests to testify in routine oversight hearings, Secretary Noem made a series of demonstrably false statements in a brazen attempt to undermine critical congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security,” Senator Dick Durbin and Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote on Monday in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The Independent has contacted DHS and the Justice Department for remark.

The referral accused Noem, who has been axed from her place and can formally go away the division on the finish of the month, of deceptive Congress a number of instances.

The lawmakers mentioned Noem could have falsely claimed President Donald Trump was conscious of her division’s plans to spend about $220 million on a controversial advert marketing campaign that featured the official on horseback in entrance of Mt. Rushmore.

During her early March remarks earlier than the Senate, Noem testified President Trump was conscious of the deliberate marketing campaign spending, which she mentioned was awarded in a aggressive bid course of.

Trump later informed Reuters he wasn’t conscious of the spending, and the contracts for the marketing campaign reportedly went to a hand-picked group of corporations with ties to Noem and a high adviser.

“Even if Secretary Noem was the one telling the truth about the President’s knowledge, and she may well have been, she flatly misrepresented that the contract had been subject to a competitive bid,” the referral letter claims.

The Democratic lawmakers additionally accuse Noem, who has been reassigned to a diplomatic submit overseeing the Shield of the Americas initiative, of being untruthful when she mentioned DHS at all times follows courtroom orders and upholds excessive detention requirements.

They pointed to courtroom rulings displaying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement in actual fact violated tons of of courtroom orders in a span of some months in simply Minnesota.

The congressmen additionally pointed to common allegations and inside audits which have discovered unsanitary and inhumane circumstances inside immigrant detention facilities, that are on observe to have their worst 12 months for in-custody deaths in additional than twenty years.

Noem could quickly go away DHS, however she is going to proceed to face heavy scrutiny, particularly if Democrats handle to retake Congress throughout the 2026 midterms or future elections.

“While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years,” the Democratic lawmakers famous of their letter.

The Department of Homeland Security’s personal inside watchdog is reportedly probing the contracting course of behind the $220 million advert marketing campaign, and it beforehand alleged DHS management has “systematically obstructed” the workplace’s work during the last 12 months.

The Trump administration has beforehand pursued a high-profile case in opposition to a former official on perjury allegations.

Last 12 months, it launched a prosecution in opposition to former FBI Director James Comey, partially by alleging he lied to Congress in 2020.

Comey pleaded not responsible and the case was later dismissed, although the DOJ has appealed.

The Trump DOJ has been reluctant to carry robust exterior oversight in opposition to immigration officers.

The administration declined to carry a civil rights investigation after an ICE agent fatally shot Minneapolis protester and U.S. citizen Nicole Good in January and brokers reportedly blocked state officers from accessing the taking pictures scene proof and participating in a full investigation.

Another Minneapolis protester, Alex Pretti, was shot by federal legislation enforcement that month, prompting widespread protests, and the DOJ later launched a civil rights investigation into his dying.