Kristi Noem affair rumors are 'perfect encapsulation' of Trump's admin: column

Nothing is more illustrative of the corruption and ethical lapses within Donald Trump's administration than Kristi Noem's rumored relationship with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who has followed her in a "non-traditional role" at the Department of Homeland Security.

That is the opinion of Slate's Christina Cauterucci, who wrote Tuesday that the alleged relationship between the two has been an object of open speculation since Trump's first term — and has not died since.

In her column, Cauterucci noted that Lewandoski has assumed an unpaid role "performing the functions of Secretary Kristi Noem’s chief of staff, while the actual chief of staff position has not been filled." He travels with the DHS secretary and is constantly seen at her side.

Lewandowski has described his role as that of a "volunteer" in his position as a “special government employee,” which allows him to maintain his position for 130 unpaid days in a year — similar to Elon Musk's tenure as a Trump advisor.

Where it become sticky, Cauterucci suggested, is that, "For years, sources have been telling reporters that Lewandowski and Noem are dating, though they’re each married to other people," adding, "But rumors of their alleged affair have followed the two since 2019, when they started appearing on the GOP event circuit together."

"The two supposed lovebirds haven’t been doing much to quell all the rumors over the years," she wrote. "One source told the New York Post that their handsiness at a hotel bar during the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2021 was 'absurdly blatant and public,' with more than 100 other conference-goers in the room. Two other Post sources said they saw Noem sitting on Lewandowski’s lap at an event at Mar-a-Lago in 2020.

In interviews with the Daily Mail, two former Noem staffers said that, in 2022, they were instructed to keep the then–South Dakota governor’s schedule private from her husband in an effort to hide the scope of her relationship with Lewandowski."

With Lewandowski still at Noem's side as she serves in the Trump administration, Cauterucci made the point that, "The Noem-Lewandowski situation is a perfect encapsulation of the Trump administration’s ethos. It’s potentially doubly corrupt, if Noem brought in her alleged lover to work under her in a manner that abuses the 'special government employee' designation."

"Breaches of government norms, nepotism, sexual impropriety, ethical violations, doing shady things in plain sight," she derisively called "all part of the MAGA package."

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