Corey Lewandowski, who is apparently working extremely closely with Kristi Noem at the moment, was spotted in footage from the dramatic scene at the Department of Homeland Security secretary’s Los Angeles press conference on Thursday.
The chaos erupted when California Senator Alex Padilla was handcuffed and forcibly removed from the news conference, a move that Democrats slammed. Padilla said he was there “peacefully” and had raised his voice to ask a question before multiple agents pounced on him.
In footage aired by NBC4 Los Angeles, Lewandowski is seen standing beside a handcuffed Padilla after the scuffle. He didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign chief, has been working as a close advisor to Noem, the Wall Street Journal reported in April. Designated a “special government employee,” he’s taken on a top role by her side and is often the only person to accompany her to meetings, sources told the Journal.
That personnel choice was sure to get tongues wagging, given the rumors that have dogged the two for years. In 2023, two conservative tabloids—the Daily Mail and New York Post—reported that the pair, suspected of being romantically linked since at least 2021, were having an affair.
The two MAGAworld mainstays, who are both married, have publicly denied any affair. A DHS spokesperson told the Journal the department “doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip.”
Noem still hasn’t appointed a formal chief of staff, but staffers reportedly view Lewandowski as the de factor person in the role, with some even referring to him as the “shadow secretary.”
The GOP operative wanted to serve as Noem’s chief of staff, but Trump and his top aides were uncomfortable with the optics given the rumors, the Journal reported.
And that might not be the only work he’s doing for Noem. In February, a source told The Swamp that Lewandowski was spotted in Noem’s Washington apartment building taking boxes down to the trash room.
Lewandowski has been one of the most polarizing figures in Trump’s orbit—a bare-knuckled political operative known as much for his loyalty as the scandal that seems to follow him.
When he joined Trump’s campaign last year, he was said to have butted heads with top aides, including co-campaign chairs Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita.
