Amid rumors she was being ousted from the State Department, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem put out what looked like an official press release on social media stating she was still a “senior adviser,” according to a report by Politico's National Security Daily.
Two people familiar with her work at the department said State’s leadership didn’t approve it. The release included a quote that has been widely repeated in coverage of her new role. One of the people said she “created a fake letterhead to post on X.”
Noem was designated a "special envoy to the Shield of the Americas" after being pushed out of DHS — a dramatically reduced role. That designation expired last month, and State has said she’s now a senior adviser to Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau.
Her tenure at DHS was derailed after President Donald Trump reportedly became enraged that she spent hundreds of millions in taxpayer money on a nationwide ad campaign promoting herself, then told Congress at a hearing that Trump had authorized it.
Noem and the State Department didn’t respond to requests for comment.
It’s the latest cloud over Noem. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the DHS inspector general sent the Justice Department a referral about contract dealings tied to her former DHS senior adviser and alleged romantic affair partner, Corey Lewandowski. Democrats also want to bring both before congressional committees in the next Congress.
A report earlier this week indicated that Lewandowski is under federal investigation for allegedly profiting off his former DHS position.