00:00So, Secretary Noem, at any time during your tenure as Director of Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual
00:09relations with Corey Lewandowski?
00:11Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Secretary, for joining us.
00:15Finally, you are in charge of protecting the homeland.
00:20And so your judgment and the judgment of your senior staff can be the difference between life and death.
00:27So I think that judgment would need to be unassailable.
00:32Why, then, is the question, have you made Corey Lewandowski your de facto chief of staff who possesses an unchecked
00:40level of power at DHS?
00:43Under your leadership, this person has done things like fire your FEMA administrator while sitting behind your desk, which is
00:52your job to do,
00:53lobby to build the controversial detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz, which has turned into a legal boondoggle costing Florida
01:02millions,
01:02and have veto and reviewing and signing power over large DHS contracts and grants, which, again, is your job.
01:11DHS has critical agency components like the Secret Service, FEMA, Border Patrol, cybersecurity.
01:18So does Corey Lewandowski have national security experience, military experience, law enforcement experience?
01:26No.
01:27He is a lobbyist, a failed campaign manager, which is causing my constituents who are waiting for their FEMA dollars
01:34and me to wonder what are his qualifications for this job.
01:40So according to the Wall Street Journal, you and Mr. L have a close relationship that has made President Trump,
01:47quote, uncomfortable.
01:49The President reportedly denounced Corey Lewandowski as your chief of staff due to reports of a romantic relationship between the
01:57two of you.
01:57So instead, you designated him as a special government and employee, a position he has had well beyond the allowed
02:05130 days and requires him to disclose if he is making money off of his position.
02:12Trump knows that this guy is shady.
02:15Corey has a decades-long record of physical batteries, sexual harassment, illegal lobbying for a Venezuelan oil company, and bringing
02:22a loaded gun into a federal building.
02:25Despite being fired or removed from virtually every position he has ever held due to misconduct, he now wields unchecked,
02:34unconfirmed, undisclosed power over your department.
02:38This person has no experience running anything close to Department of Homeland Security or even advising someone in your position.
02:47He is unqualified, which again has left my constituents an eye wondering why he is your top official.
02:57So, Secretary Noem, at any time during your tenure as Director of Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual
03:05relations with Corey Lewandowski?
03:09Mr. Chairman, I am shocked that we're going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today.
03:15And ma'am, one thing that I would tell you is that he is a special government employee who works
03:20for the White House.
03:21There are thousands of them in the federal government.
03:24So, reclaiming my time, Secretary, it is okay for you to be offended by the question.
03:28It is okay for you to be offended by the question, but it is also a real question.
03:34So, what I would say to you is that what we do at the Department of Homeland Security every single
03:40day, every single day, is to protect this country and to make decisions.
03:44You or any federal official is sleeping with their subordinate.
03:48That should be the easiest.
03:49You should be wanting to answer that question.
03:51Because it is not about your sense of that you have brought that up.
03:55It is about your judgment.
03:56That kind of garbage has been refuted for years.
03:57It is about reclaiming my time so that I can hear myself.
04:00And you need to recognize here.
04:01Time belongs to the gentlelady from California, but it would be nice if you would let her respond.
04:06I will.
04:07I want to let you know it is about your judgment and decision-making.
04:11It is about the 260,000 employees that work under you that want to make sure that you are giving
04:19information and making decisions clearly.
04:21It is about conflict of interest.
04:23It is about a national security risk.
04:26Department of Homeland Security was created right after 9-11 to protect the homeland.
04:32And DHS has circulated an internal bulletin to law enforcement partners warning that the conflict of the war we're in
04:39could inspire lone actors or small-scale cyber activity inside the United States, according to a memo obtained by ABC
04:48News.
04:49So American lives are at risk.
04:50The people who work for you are at risk.
04:53And they want to know that the person at the top, you, are making decisions clearly, without any sort of
05:03cloudiness.
05:05And that they're your decisions because you're the secretary who was confirmed.
05:11That's what this is about, saving the lives of Americans and not costing them millions of dollars and not having
05:19a secretary who's compromised in her decision-making.
05:22And, Mr. Chair, before I yield my time, I would like to enter into the record some articles, and I'm
05:28asking for unanimous consent.
05:30Noem tightens her grip on DHS.
05:33Lewandowski fired FEMA admin.
05:36Without objection.
05:36Okay.
05:37The next one is Kristi Noem secretly took a cut of political donations from ProPublica.
05:42Without objection.
05:44Kristi Noem fires Pilot over a blanket, but is forced to reinstate him to fly home.
05:49Wall Street Journal.
05:50Without objection.
05:51Lewandowski taking out trash at Noem's D.C. home.
05:55Daily Beast.
05:56Without objection.
05:57Barbie's Mile High Privacy Chamber with alleged lover exposed.
06:01Wall Street Journal.
06:02How Corey Lewandowski became Kristi Noem's gatekeeper at DHS.
06:07Without objection.
06:08A pilot fired over Kristi Noem's missing blanket and the constant chaos inside DHS.
06:14Without objection.
06:14Wall Street Journal.
06:15Police charged Trump campaign manager with assault.
06:19PBS News.
06:20Without objection.
06:21Woman who accused Corey Lewandowski of assault speaks out.
06:25I don't want this to happen to anyone else.
06:28CBS News.
06:30Lewandowski's firm quietly inked deal with Venezuela-owned company Politico.
06:35Objection.
06:36List of U.S. cities raising security amid Iran conflict.
06:44Newsweek.
06:45Objection.
06:46Uh, Kristi Noem, I have a few more, I'm sorry.
06:49Kristi Noem misled Congress yesterday about top aide's role in DHS contracts.
06:57Objection.
06:58Policy number 10271 from ICE.
07:03It is an anti-fraternization policy prohibiting romantic or sexual relationships between supervisors
07:11and their subordinates.
07:12And with that, I yield.
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