The Wall Street Journal is out with an explosive new report on Corey Lewandowski's tenure at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alleging that the one-time adviser to President Trump wielded far more authority than he should have considering his title. And he may have used his position there to enrich himself.
Lewandowski was an unpaid “special government employee" at DHS from roughly April of 2025 until March 2026, theoretically serving as an adviser to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, with whom he has been rumored to have a romantic relationship.
According to this new story, however, officials inside DHS saw him more as a “shadow secretary” than an unpaid volunteer. He reportedly had great influence over matters like personnel decisions and immigration policy, with control over billions of dollars in federal spending. All of this despite never having been confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Kristi Noem’s close adviser effectively controlled billions in spending at Homeland Security. Lewandowski denies seeking business or playing any role in the agency’s contracts. https://t.co/gSXNcyoFc5
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 8, 2026
One of the more serious allegations made in the Journal story involved Lewandowski approaching senior officials from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and offering to work for them privately, even suggesting that he could help secure visas.
Hire me on the side, the longtime Trump aide who was effectively the shadow secretary at the department last year, told them, according to people familiar with his pitch. He said he could help the tiny, wealthy Gulf state[s] with any issues that fell under the department’s purview, such as visas, the people said.
Both countries declined, but, if true, these episodes strongly suggest that Lewandowski was trying to personally profit from his access to government services.
The alleged moneymaking efforts, which appeared to be offers by Lewandowski to sell government services for personal gain, came while he had an expansive portfolio at one of the most powerful agencies in the federal government. The role gave him de facto decision-making authority over large amounts of recently appropriated billions of dollars, the president’s border and immigration enforcement agenda and the collection of tariffs, which have been vastly expanded under President Trump.
The Journal story also raises serious questions about Lewandowski’s involvement in negotiations with Palantir over a multi-billion dollar contract, a long-running beef he had with immigration contractor GEO Group after it declined to hire him as a lobbyist, and ties to a $2.3 million FEMA grant awarded to a small conservative nonprofit outside the usual process.
The Justice Department has very strict ethics rules governing how special government employees should conduct themselves: "Generally, you should not engage in outside activities, including employment, that conflict with your official duties. An activity conflicts with your duties if it would require you to disqualify yourself from matters so critical that your ability to perform your duties would be impaired."
The DHS’s inspector general is now investigating whether contracts were improperly handled and whether or not Lewandowski or those around him personally benefited from the agency's spending decisions. Investigators have reportedly been examining Lewandowski’s role in selecting contractors, including some mega deals that attracted attention during Kristi Noem’s tenure.
Needless to say, political observers from across the spectrum are abuzz on social media over the story, with some alleging "insane levels of corruption" during Lewandowski's DHS tenure and others saying "mind-blowing corruption" is "happening before our eyes."