DHS inspector general finds Lewandowski may have improperly awarded contracts

Unpaid SGE signed DHS contracts beyond typical advisory duties

Investigators have found evidence that Corey Lewandowski, a former senior aide at the Department of Homeland Security, may have been involved in improperly awarding government contracts during his tenure as an unpaid special government employee, according to people familiar with the matter. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and White House officials have been briefed on the inquiry, as investigators weigh a potential criminal referral to the Justice Department, the people said. The investigation is ongoing and a referral is not imminent, some of the people said.

The probe is being led by the DHS inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, who regularly clashed with former Secretary Kristi Noem during her tenure at the agency. A spokesman for the inspector general’s office cited the office’s longstanding policy of neither confirming nor denying specific investigations, but pointed to a previously announced set of audits under way into DHS contracting.

Lewandowski served as a “special government employee,” a designation under federal ethics law that allows private-sector employees to take temporary advisory roles without relinquishing their outside salaries and investments. Despite his unpaid status, he took on an expansive portfolio, directing personnel and making contracting decisions, according to people familiar with his role. He personally signed specific contracts, according to people who reviewed the documents or had knowledge of the approvals. He was widely viewed at the department as Noem’s chief of staff, with some referring to him as the “shadow secretary.”

In a statement, a representative for Lewandowski denied that he issued contracts while at the department and said he had not been contacted by anyone regarding the continuing investigation.

Early in Noem’s tenure, she made the unusual decision to put all department spending over $100,000 under her purview, giving her and Lewandowski a say over many of the department’s spending decisions. Mullin has scrapped that rule since taking over the department.

The investigation into Lewandowski is part of a broader review of contracting during Noem’s tenure. Shortly after Noem and Lewandowski left DHS, investigators searched the office of a contractor that worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seizing records and a computer from the office of Kara Voorhies as part of a probe into her role in the FEMA contracting process, the Journal previously reported.

Cuffari has also been auditing the $38 billion warehouse-to-detention program championed by Noem. Under Noem, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bought 11 vacant warehouses in the span of a couple of months, arguing the government needed to buy its own detention centers rather than leasing them from private prison companies or local governments. According to a report by CoStar, a real-estate analytics company, ICE paid between 11% and 13%, on average, above the price for comparable properties. DHS officials have since decided to sell seven of the warehouses.