Prosecutors are probing DHS contracting and Corey Lewandowski after an inspector general referral, his lawyer denies wrongdoing while Trump demands honesty from aides.
Justice Department prosecutors are examining Department of Homeland Security contracting from the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term and are scrutinizing longtime Trump ally Corey Lewandowski, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The inquiry followed a referral from DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari about Lewandowski’s conduct. The probe remains in its early stages. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Lewandowski served as ousted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s top aide. He worked as a special government employee and effectively acted as her chief of staff. The Wall Street Journal first reported the Justice Department’s interest in him.
Fox News also reported that the department opened the matter after the inspector general’s criminal referral, underscoring the same core facts around the DHS contracting review and Lewandowski’s role.
Noem and Lewandowski were ousted in March after a congressional hearing. At that hearing, Noem said President Trump knew of her decision to launch a $220 million digital ad campaign for the department, with videos that featured her prominently. Both have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Lewandowski’s time beside Noem has drawn public attention before, including when Noem and Lewandowski were spotted together in Minnesota during a period of personal upheaval in her life.
His attorney, Adam Trigg, pushed back hard on any suggestion of misconduct in government service.
"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,"
Trigg’s statement frames Lewandowski’s DHS work as unpaid and voluntary. No charges, indictments, or formal notice to Lewandowski appear in the reporting so far.
Reporters asked Trump about the probe on Thursday as he spoke on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One. He said he did not know the specifics.
"All I know is I want my people to be honest,"
He continued in plain terms about what he expects from people who serve under him.
"And if they're not gonna be honest they have to be prosecuted. I don't know about specifically, but -- because I view if people are not honest they're stealing from me."
That standard is straightforward. Taxpayers fund DHS contracts. If spending practices were sloppy or self-serving, the inspector general system exists to flag them and send serious matters to prosecutors. An early-stage review after a formal referral is how accountability is supposed to work.
Lewandowski’s broader political profile has kept him in the mix around Trump-world strategy, including coverage of how Lewandowski angled for a comeback with Noem in the picture in earlier reporting on his maneuvering.
What the Justice Department is weighing, according to the sourcing, is DHS contracting activity during that first-year window and Lewandowski’s conduct as flagged by Cuffari. The public record in this reporting does not name specific vendors, contract numbers, or statutes. It does not describe interviews, subpoenas, or document demands.
It does place the referral inside a period when DHS spending choices, including that costly digital ad push built around the secretary, had already drawn congressional heat. Noem’s claim that Trump knew about the campaign was part of the hearing that preceded the March exit.
Noem has continued to appear in homeland-security-adjacent roles in public coverage since leaving the secretary’s chair, including reporting on how her Shield of the Americas envoy status ended while she stayed on related portfolio work.
Separate DHS workforce controversies have also kept the department under a microscope, such as a whistleblower claim that ICE cut corners on new-hire vetting. Those threads are distinct from the Lewandowski referral, but they show why contracting and personnel controls at Homeland Security remain a live accountability issue for Congress and inspectors general.
For now, the verified picture is limited and should stay that way until more is on the record. Prosecutors are looking. The inspector general made a referral. Lewandowski’s lawyer says his client has not been contacted and denies wrongdoing in voluntary service. Trump says he wants honest people and that dishonesty should bring prosecution. The Justice Department is not describing the theory of the case in public.
Government contracts are not a personal piggy bank, and referrals from an inspector general are not press releases. If the facts support clean service, that will show. If they do not, the process Trump described, honesty or consequences, is the one taxpayers should expect.
