- News
- World
- Americas
- US politics
'I'm not worried. I do whatever the f*** I want', top aide allegedly said
Harry Cockburn Wednesday 11 March 2026 21:01 GMT- Bookmark
- CommentsGo to comments
Bookmark popover
Removed from bookmarks
Close popoverKristi Noem's five most controversial moments as DHS Secretary
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Email*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice
Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem's top aide Corey Lewandowski reportedly told colleagues he could "do whatever the f***" he wanted, because Donald Trump would pardon him.
Lewandowski, who is also expected to leave the DHS later this month after Trump fired Noem from the job last week, made such remarks "on multiple occasions", according to a report in the New York Post, based on interviews with people who have worked with him.
“I’m not worried. I do whatever the f*** I want. DJT will pardon me,” Lewandowski said last year, according to the Post .
It is unclear why Lewandowski, who previously worked as Trump's campaign manager for the 2016 election, should have believed he may require a presidential pardon, but the same sources suggested he made the remarks as an all-encompassing response indicating he believed he would be legally shielded from accountability for a "range of alleged professional and personal misconduct."
The Post quoted one source as saying that Lewandowski “was telling people he was going to get [a] pardon so he didn’t have to worry.”
open image in galleryLewandowski is expected to follow Noem out the door at DHS after Trump fired her as Homeland Security Secretary last week (Reuters)However, Lewandowski told the newspaper he “never said that.”
"Never asked for a pardon and have no reason to receive one,” he said.
Lewandowski is said to have exercised a high degree of control over some elements of Noem's political operation, approving contracts, reportedly firing staff abruptly.
Since Noem's firing last week, Trump has sought to establish whether Lewandowski personally profited from a $220 million federal advertising campaign featuring Noem, according to a report by NBC.
Furthermore, the report states that behind the scenes, the president "has grown suspicious about Lewandowski’s role in doling out government contracts, according to the three people familiar with his conversations".
Both Lewandowski and Noem have denied any improper relationship and reject allegations of wrongdoing tied to their time at DHS.
It has long been rumored that Noem and Lewandowski, who are both married to other people, have engaged in an affair. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the pair had done little to hide their relationship inside the agency.
They have both repeatedly denied engaging in an affair, an allegation which Noem has called a “disgusting lie.” In a statement to the Journal, a DHS spokesperson said the agency “doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip.”
open image in galleryNoem takes part in a sound check at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Wisconsin as Lewandowski looks on (AFP/Getty)When asked at a House Judiciary Committee hearing if she ever had “sexual relations” with Lewandowski, Noem accused lawmakers of spreading “tabloid garbage.”
“Mr. Chairman, I am shocked we are going down and peddling tabloid garbage in this committee today,” she said last Wednesday, which was also attended by her husband Bryon Noem.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, "officials have said they do little to hide their relationship inside the department.”
It went on: "The pair have lately been using a luxury 737 MAX jet, with a private cabin in back, for their travel around the country."
Noem, a key figure in the Trump campaign's aggressive immigration crackdown, came under intense scrutiny after federal immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week, she refused to apologize for labeling Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, who were both killed by federal agents in Minnesota, “domestic terrorists.”
Noem is to be replaced at the DHS by Markwayne Mullin, a first-term senator from Oklahoma.
Mullin, who serves on the Armed Services, Indian Affairs, Appropriations, and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees, has reportedly won the backing of Republican senators, while Democrats have cautioned that just because Noem has gone, it doesn't mean the Trump administration's approach to immigration matters will have softened.
Noem will now shift to a new role focused on combating drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere, a move presented as a reassignment rather than an exile.
The Independent has contacted the Department for Homeland Security for comment.
Trump has pardoned a number of high profile criminals since returning to office last year, including hundreds of his supporters who took part in the January 6 riot in 2021, businessmen including Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, and the former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández.
Last month White House insiders were reported to have called Trump’s process for issuing pardons “chaos.”
More about
Corey LewandowskiDonald TrumpThe IndependentKristi NoemJoin our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments