Democrats Move to Investigate Kristi Noem for Lying Under Oath

Kristi Noem’s lies are finally catching up with her.

The Department of Justice is slated to receive a recommendation Monday to investigate the outgoing secretary for allegedly committing perjury while testifying under oath earlier this month, according to former CBS journalist Scott MacFarlane. The recommendation comes from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, who are the ranking members on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, respectively.

The recommendation will cite at least four responses Noem provided under oath, including her answers to questions about the $220 million ad campaign that reportedly got her fired. Speaking before the committees, Noem had crumbled under scrutiny regarding the multimillion-dollar ad contract she’d awarded to an eight-day-old company.

While testifying under oath, Noem claimed that Donald Trump had signed off on the campaign. The president later claimed he “never knew anything about it.”

Noem may have misled lawmakers about the process for awarding contracts, claiming there was open bidding while she really only allowed a few companies to pitch and passing federal funds to companies with ties to her inner circle. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Peter Welch have launched an investigation into the ad campaign.

The recommendation will also urge a probe of Noem’s statements about ICE satisfying detention standards for detainees, the treatment of U.S. citizens, and violating court orders.

Speaking under oath, Noem claimed that the Department of Homeland Security does not detain American citizens. This is not true. By October, DHS had detained at least 170 American citizens, including 20 children.

Noem also claimed that DHS had complied with court orders, while federal judges across the country have found that DHS has violated dozens of orders involving immigrants challenging the legal basis for their detention.

It’s not clear that the Department of Justice, led by Pam Bondi, will pursue an investigation against Noem. “Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically false,” a DHS official told MacFarlane.