Chapter 1: How is Kristi Noem's leadership affecting the Department of Homeland Security?
How much of a mess is Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem? We all have eyes, but this is one of those stories that I think it went viral because I think it speaks to a lot of the frustration with how Kristi Noem makes personnel decisions and decisions more broadly. But the Wall Street Journal, which recently went digging into some of Noem's decisions, has sources.
We were told by numerous sources that she was on a trip and, you know, she flies a Coast Guard plane or used to fly a Coast Guard plane. And there were mechanical issues with the plane.
Chapter 2: What controversies surround Kristi Noem's personnel decisions?
So they switched planes and the pilot and the crew forgot to move her blanket onto the new plane. That angered Kristi Noem so much that Corey Lewandowski fired the pilot and But after the event, they realized that they had no one to fly them home, so they had to reinstate the pilot. Coming up on Today Explained, Kristi Noem has issues.
When the political winds change, will there be accountability for those who bent the knee for the Trump administration?
Chapter 3: What is the significance of the Wall Street Journal's investigation into Noem?
If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to play by the old rules and say, oh, never mind, we'll forgive you, I think they've got another thing coming.
I'm Preet Bharara, and this week, Ambassador Susan Rice joins me to discuss leadership, decision-making, and the state of the rule of law in America.
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I got in the water in the very early morning before the sun had risen, and the water was pitch black. I started swimming, and I felt the water hollowing out around me and felt like something really big was swimming below. I'm Phoebe Judge, and this is Love, a show about the surprising things that love can make us do. More than 100 episodes, available now on This Is Love.
This is Today Explained. Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a blockbuster story about DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's vast and varied messes. The story begins two days after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Preddy. WSJ immigration reporter Michelle Hackman picks it up from there. Kristi Noem is realizing that she is taking the blame for what happened in Minneapolis.
I've made it very clear. She is way out of her depth. You can see the chaos in Minnesota.
She's deeply unqualified. She never should have been confirmed to begin with. Kristi Noem needs to go. that suddenly the mood has shifted even inside the administration. I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude. And she's basically thinking she needs to do something to save herself. She needs to salvage her image.
We were using the best information we had at the time, seeking to be transparent with the American people. And her top advisor, Corey Lewandowski, reaches out to Trump's pollster and says, can you cut an ad for us? We need to do we're desperate. We need to do something.
The idea was basically to cut some kind of ad that would make her look good, make her look strong, try to change the narrative away from these two killings in Minneapolis that she was basically taking the blame for. She was met basically with silence. Tony Fabrizio, Trump's pollster, didn't even respond to them, but he went and told other people that this happened.
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Chapter 4: How do Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski's relationship dynamics impact DHS?
I have no regrets. It's such a privilege and an honor to have been a very small part of this. to learn and experience what he's been able to achieve in the electoral success that he has had. It's been truly amazing.
And he actually convinced Donald Trump to appoint Kristi Noem as DHS secretary as a favor to him. He has high ambitions for Noem for her political career. And he saw the DHS secretary role sort of as a stepping stone to future things. Interestingly with Lewandowski, Trump, you know, he knew about this relationship. He reportedly talks about it. Sources have told us he jokes about it to this day.
And he actually had felt uncomfortable with giving Corey Lewandowski the chief of staff job specifically because he felt weird about him dating Noem. And not to be indelicate, but both Corey Lewandowski and Kristi Noem are married? Yes. They both are married. They both publicly deny the fact that they're in a relationship.
Although sources tell us that inside the department, they do very little to hide it. I, in fact, went on a trip with them where Lewandowski was on the trip the whole time. And we've been told that he travels everywhere with her. He appears in many photos, you know, alongside her. They're basically inseparable. She doesn't do meetings without him.
Let's pull back for a minute and talk about how Kristi Noem has reshaped the Department of Homeland Security. What would you say her signature moves have been? She has done several really major things. I mean, most visibly with Minneapolis, she has... sort of prioritized a style of immigration enforcement that is really flashy. And she's done it herself.
She's gone on ICE raids where she herself will wear the flak jacket. Video captured by Medina and neighbors shows a large number of ICE agents, accompanied by the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. Do you know why we're here today? You will be held accountable for your crimes. She will, you know, pose in the pilot seat of a Coast Guard plane.
Here she is. All decked out in her Border Patrol garb. She is not a Customs and Border Patrol agent, but she had them, like, make her a uniform, I guess, including the hat.
She will hold, you know, a really heavy automatic weapon. And some have said, you know, she doesn't hold it in the correct way. And you're pointing that weapon directly at that guy's head. So that is a problem. And she's all, you know, she's always also looking very TV ready. She always has her hair done, her makeup done while she's sort of in these poses.
And she's brought that style to immigration enforcement where she has pushed agents, you know, always make sure that the arrests you're making are on camera. You know, and if they are resisting you, sort of the more resistance, the better, the flashier, the better.
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Chapter 5: What are Kristi Noem's notable actions as DHS Secretary?
Tell me about Rodney Scott, the commissioner of CBP. Yeah. One thing I really want to emphasize is that this is not left-wing criticism of Kristi Noem. These are hardcore Trump supporters inside the administration who are supportive of his immigration agenda and basically feel that she's getting in his way. That someone more effective could be doing the job.
And I would say Rodney Scott was one of the loudest voices with that view. So Rodney Scott, you know, was really upset about a few things. Kristi Noem had elevated a guy in the Border Patrol. His name is Greg Bovino.
All right. Good afternoon. My name is Greg Bovino. I'm the commander at large for Customs and Border Protection assets here in the great city of Minneapolis. I'm here to talk to you.
He sort of has this very similar view that she does that immigration enforcement should be flashy and confrontational. He's the person who sent the huge groups of roving Border Patrol agents out on the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago and then Minneapolis. She was supportive of him to the point where she removed him from the normal chain of command.
You know, he normally would have to report up to the Border Patrol chief and then to Rodney Scott, who's the Customs and Border Protection commissioner. And she said, no, no, no, you report to me directly.
Rodney Scott was really offended by that, objected vociferously to that, and also said, you know, what you guys are doing is going to be a step back for the entire administration because your style is too confrontational. We were told that he was so confrontational with Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski.
At one point, he told Corey Lewandowski, I don't have to listen to you anymore because clearly you've been lying about how many days you've been working and your special government employee status is over.
Yeah.
Wow. And then how does she respond? She responds basically by retaliating against Rodney Scott, firing or reassigning his closest advisors at CVP and installing her personal loyalist to be his chief of staff, his deputy. And at one point she told him, you know, I have direct communication with your deputy. He is in charge of the agency. You are not in charge.
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