\n<\/p>\n
In recent days, five U.S. senators and two representatives requested documents from the Department of Homeland Security and a formal investigation into how a firm closely tied to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended up receiving money from a $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign.<\/p>\n
The demands came in response to a ProPublica story this month that revealed that the Republican consulting firm had been secretly working on the ads, which star Noem. The company, called the Strategy Group, has long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. Its CEO is married to Noem\u2019s chief spokesperson at DHS.<\/p>\n
Under Noem, DHS bypassed the normal competitive bidding process when awarding the contracts \u2014 allocating the majority of the money to a mysterious Delaware LLC that was created days before the deal was finalized. The Strategy Group does not appear on public documents about the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public deserves to know that government officials are not using taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves and their friends on the backs of hardworking Americans,\u201d four Senate Democrats on the homeland security committee wrote in a letter to the DHS inspector general. They called for the inspector general to investigate whether DHS officials had violated federal laws and contracting regulations \u201cdesigned to prevent self-dealing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The senators who signed the letter were Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Andy Kim, D-N.J. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., separately sent his own letter to the inspector general.<\/p>\n
In their own letter, Reps. Bennie Thompson and Robert Garcia \u2014 the ranking members of the House homeland security and oversight committees \u2014 demanded copies of all communications between Noem and her aides and \u201canyone associated with the Strategy Group\u201d or the Delaware LLC. They wrote that they intended to investigate Noem for \u201clining your friends\u2019 pockets at the taxpayer\u2019s expense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Democrats in Congress have also criticized Noem for the ad deal. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called for Noem to resign following the ProPublica report. \u201cThis is what corruption looks like,\u201d Rep. Jasmine Crockett said at a congressional hearing. \u201cThey\u2019re stealing money from the American people\u2019s pockets and depositing it into their bank accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
ProPublica found that the Strategy Group\u2019s undisclosed work for DHS included running a shoot for a recently aired ad that featured Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore, delivering a message to immigrants. Among the firm\u2019s ties to Noem: It played a central role in her last gubernatorial campaign in South Dakota, and it has worked closely with Noem\u2019s top aide at DHS, Corey Lewandowski. The office funding the ad contracts is listed as the DHS Office of Public Affairs, which is run by Tricia McLaughlin; McLaughlin is married to the CEO of the Strategy Group, Ben Yoho.<\/p>\n
Multiple federal contracting experts previously told ProPublica that the extensive ties between DHS leadership and the Strategy Group suggested major potential violations of ethics rules.<\/p>\n
Asked about the Strategy Group\u2019s work for DHS, McLaughlin previously told ProPublica, \u201cI don\u2019t know who they\u2019re a subcontractor with, but I don\u2019t work with them because I have a conflict of interest and I fully recused myself.\u201d She added, \u201cWe don\u2019t have visibility into why they were chosen.\u201d<\/p>\n
DHS did not address questions about the calls for an IG investigation. In a statement, the agency reiterated its response to the original story, saying that DHS does its contracting \u201cby the book\u201d and that the agency is not involved in the selection of subcontractors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the DHS inspector general told ProPublica that as a matter of policy, it does not confirm or deny investigations.<\/p>\n
The Strategy Group did not respond to questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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