In recent days, five U.S. senators and two members of Congress have filed documents with the Department of Homeland Security demanding a formal investigation into how a company with close ties to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended up receiving money from a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign.
The request came in response to a ProPublica article this month that revealed that a Republican consulting firm was secretly working on an ad starring Noem. The company, called Strategy Group, has long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and senior DHS aides. The company’s CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson for DHS.
Under Noem, DHS bypassed the normal competitive bidding process when awarding contracts and allocated most of the funds to a mysterious Delaware LLC that was formed days before the contracts were finalized. Strategic Group does not appear in public documents related to the deal.
“Government officials deserve to know that they are supported by hard-working Americans and are not using taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves and their friends,” four Senate Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee wrote in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General. They called on the inspector general to investigate whether DHS employees violated federal law and contract regulations “designed to prevent self-dealing.”
The letter was signed by Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona. Gary Peters, Democrat, Michigan. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat, Connecticut. and Andy Kim, DN.J. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, separately sent his own letter to the inspector general.
In their own letter, Reps. Bennie Thompson and Robert Garcia, ranking members of the House Homeland Security and Oversight Committee, requested copies of all communications between Noem and her aides and “Strategic Group Officials” or the Delaware LLC. They wrote that they would investigate Nomu for “lining his friend’s pockets at taxpayers’ expense.”
Other Democrats in Congress have also criticized Noem over the ad deal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for Noem’s resignation following the ProPublica report. “This is what corruption looks like,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett said at a Congressional hearing. “They are stealing money from Americans’ pockets and depositing it into their bank accounts.”
ProPublica has learned that the strategy group’s undisclosed work for DHS included running a shoot for a recently aired ad that featured Noem riding a horse at Mount Rushmore and conveyed a message to immigrants. Among the company’s ties to Noem, it played a central role in her last gubernatorial campaign in South Dakota and has worked closely with Corey Lewandowski, Noem’s top aide at DHS. The office funding the advertising contract is listed as the DHS Office of Public Affairs, run by Tricia McLaughlin. McLaughlin is married to Strategic Group CEO Ben Yoho.
Multiple federal contracting experts previously told ProPublica that DHS leadership’s extensive ties to the strategic group indicate potential for serious violations of ethics rules.
See the DHS ad shot at Mount Rushmore
Asked about the strategy group’s work for DHS, McLaughlin previously told ProPublica, “I don’t know who they subcontract with, but I’m not working with them because there’s a conflict of interest and I’m in complete denial.” She added: “I don’t know why they were chosen.”
DHS did not respond to questions about the IG’s request for an investigation. In a statement, the agency reiterated its response to the original story, saying DHS was conducting the contract “by the book” and that the agency was not involved in the selection of subcontractors.
A spokesperson for the DHS Inspector General told ProPublica that as a matter of policy, the agency does not confirm or deny investigations.
The Strategy Group did not respond to questions.
