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The Justice Department is investigating Corey Lewandowski, according to several news organizations. He was Donald Trump’s first campaign manager and later a top adviser at the Department of Homeland Security.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Thursday, Oct. 22, that prosecutors were examining allegations that he profited from his DHS role. The inquiry follows a criminal referral from the department’s inspector general.
The Justice Department declined to comment, CNN reported. Prosecutors have not charged Lewandowski. His lawyer says he denies any wrongdoing and that the department hasn’t contacted him.
What the reports say prosecutors are examining
The Journal’s story is paywalled. The details below come from outlets that summarised it or did their own reporting. According to Mediaite’s summary, the Journal said the investigation grew out of a DHS inspector general referral. It called the case the “first publicly known instance of Trump’s second-term Justice Department scrutinizing someone close to the president.”
Other outlets then confirmed the investigation with their own sources. Three US officials and a fourth person familiar with the matter confirmed the criminal investigation to Reuters, the Guardian reported. They said it concerns allegations that he profited from his government role. One of those people said the department had not yet issued subpoenas or other legal demands.
CNN, citing multiple people familiar with the case, said prosecutors are examining alleged contract misconduct at DHS. One source said Washington, DC, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro had asked her office to look into claims of DHS contracting kickbacks. CNN said it is still unclear which US attorney’s office is leading the case.
The inspector general’s inquiry began with how DHS awarded a $220 million ad contract featuring Kristi Noem, NBC News reported. A source told NBC it widened after allegations that Lewandowski sought payment from GEO Group, a government contractor. In March, a Lewandowski spokesperson called that account “absolutely false.”
Lewandowski’s lawyer says he has not been contacted
Adam Trigg, Lewandowski’s attorney, gave the same statement to CNN, NBC and the Associated Press. “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,” he said, the AP reported.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNN or the AP.
Lewandowski has pushed back on earlier reporting about his time at DHS. In September, a Journal story alleged he effectively controlled billions of dollars in DHS contracts. He called it “anonymous-source, politically driven reporting” on X, Yahoo News reported. He has not posted a separate response to the new reports.
Trump says he wants his ‘people to be honest’
Asked about the reports on Thursday, Trump said he didn’t know the details. “I don’t know exactly what it is,” he told reporters, according to the AP. “All I know is, I want my people to be honest. And if they’re not going to be honest, they have to be prosecuted.” He added: “I’ll have my DOJ go and do whatever they have to do.”
He did not defend Lewandowski, the AP noted. That stands out. Under Trump, the Justice Department has investigated critics such as New York Attorney General Letitia James. Investigations of people close to him have been rare, the Guardian wrote.
How a volunteer adviser came to sign DHS contracts
Lewandowski joined DHS early in Trump’s second term as a special government employee. That status is meant to cover a limited number of working days. In practice, officials saw him as Noem’s gatekeeper and de facto chief of staff, CNN reported. He left the department when Trump fired Noem in March.
Lawmakers have questioned his role in contracting for months. Noem had ordered that every contract and grant over $100,000 cross her desk. In March she told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Lewandowski had no role in approving contracts. ProPublica then reported that internal DHS records showed he had personally approved a multimillion-dollar equipment contract. A DHS spokesperson told ProPublica that Lewandowski “does NOT play a role in approving contracts.”
On March 18, top Democrats on three House committees asked the DHS inspector general to investigate. They wrote that his “alleged unauthorized involvement in DHS contracting decisions is a great cause for concern.”
By July, the Journal reported that investigators under Inspector General Joseph Cuffari were weighing a criminal referral, according to Mediaite. At the time, a Lewandowski representative denied that he issued contracts. Current Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had received briefings, and his team was cooperating, the paper said.
No subpoenas yet, and no office named
An investigation is not a charge. One Reuters source said no subpoenas had gone out as of Thursday. CNN said prosecutors had been waiting on the inspector general’s findings.
The next public signs would be word of which US attorney’s office is handling the case, subpoenas to DHS or contractors, or contact with Lewandowski’s lawyer. So far, the Justice Department has not confirmed that the investigation exists.