Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Lewandowski

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Corey Lewandowski over accusations that he profited from his role as a top adviser to the Department of Homeland Security, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation.

The inquiry, one of the rare instances in which an ally or appointee of President Donald Trump has been investigated for potential wrongdoing during his second term, was initiated in response to a referral from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, the officials said.

It was not immediately clear what actions were under investigation.

Late Thursday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he had heard about the investigation but did not know the details.

He did not, however, offer words of support or even consolation to his longtime ally. He added that he viewed the potential theft of public funds as a personal affront.

“I want my people to be honest, and if they are not going to be honest they have to be prosecuted,” he said. “If people are not honest, they’re stealing from me.”

Any dishonest people, he added, would be handled by “my DOJ.”

A lawyer for Lewandowski denied suggestions that he had done anything improper or illegal. “Mr. Lewandowski has not been contacted by the Justice Department regarding any investigation, and he denies any wrongdoing when he was proudly serving his country in a voluntary capacity,” the lawyer, Adam Trigg, said in a statement.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. Its office of the inspector general declined to comment, saying it typically did not “confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, to preserve our independence.”

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported news of the inquiry.

Lewandowski, who served as Trump’s first campaign manager a decade ago, joined DHS early last year in what was supposed to be a limited, part-time role. He worked closely with Kristi Noem, the former Homeland Security secretary, but left after she was abruptly forced out in March, as concerns grew about his conduct.

He wielded power far beyond the scope of his role as an unpaid adviser, serving as Noem’s top aide and confidant. From his perch, he built an expansive portfolio in which he had wide influence over personnel, contracts and department operations.

He often hosted meetings in Noem’s office without her present, grilling agency officials and issuing orders.

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In the lead-up to his departure, Homeland Security officials had expressed worries that Lewandowski was trying to enrich himself. Those complaints ultimately reached the White House, where Lewandowski’s fiery personality and penchant for political intrigue already alienated some top Trump advisers.

His focus on contracts drew particular attention from top Homeland Security officials.

As secretary, Noem had enacted a policy requiring that she approve all contracts over $100,000, a move the agency said was intended to reduce wasteful spending.

Some of those approvals were reviewed by Lewandowski, who signed memos greenlighting the spending alongside Noem. He included his title, “chief adviser to S1,” a reference to the Homeland Security secretary, according to documents seen by The New York Times and people familiar with his role.

The approval process slowed down critical spending, including for airport security and disaster relief, the Times previously reported. Some White House officials were furious at the slow handling of contracts, fielding complaints from local leaders about their inability to get disaster assistance.

Lewandowski also flexed vast influence over Trump’s efforts to detain and deport millions of immigrants. He helped elevate Gregory Bovino, a midlevel leader of the U.S. Border Patrol, to a senior position commanding militarized deportation raids across the United States.

Bovino was forced out earlier this year after agents under his supervision killed two protesters in Minneapolis during an aggressive immigration sweep.

The catalyst for Noem’s departure appeared to be her answers during two congressional hearings, particularly her statements that Trump had approved of tens of millions of dollars of government ads in which she was prominently featured. He later denied her account.

After Noem left DHS, she became a special envoy for Western Hemisphere security at the State Department. But her term was not renewed when it ended in September. She now holds a lower-profile role as a senior adviser at the State Department.

In the last hours of Noem’s tenure, her agency delivered a windfall to one of her political donors by buying five airplanes from his firm at a substantial markup.

DHS agreed to pay the donor’s firm $108 million for a Boeing 737 airliner that had been converted into a huge private jet, complete with a stand-up bar, two bedrooms, marble showers and a table covered in manta ray skin.

The firm, Daedalus Aviation Corp., had bought the same plane a few months earlier from a seller who had asked for less than $90 million, according to documents reviewed by the Times.

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A Daedalus spokesperson said in a statement that the company was “not aware of any criminal investigation regarding our company or our people, nor any legitimate cause for there to be such an investigation.”

Few people in Trump’s inner circle have had quite as bumpy a ride as Lewandowski, whose motto as campaign manager — “Let Trump be Trump” — was far more enduring than his short stint running the campaign, which ended in June 2016, before the Republican National Convention.

Over the years, he has been accused of trying to bring a handgun (inside a laundry bag) into a congressional office building, roughing up a female reporter covering the 2016 campaign, mocking a 10-year-old immigrant with Down syndrome, and making unwanted sexual advances and lewd remarks to the wife of a Trump donor at a fundraising event in Nevada in 2021.

He was later charged with misdemeanor battery in connection with that incident. He reached a plea agreement in which he admitted no wrongdoing, but paid a $1,000 fine and took eight hours of impulse-control counseling.