Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “repeatedly misled” lawmakers in a “brazen” attempt to skirt accountability, according to two senior Democratic members of Congress, who have referred the Trump administration official to the Justice Department for a perjury investigation.
“After months of evading our Committees’ requests to testify in routine oversight hearings, Secretary Noem made a series of demonstrably false statements in a brazen attempt to undermine critical congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security,” Senator Dick Durbin and Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote on Monday in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Independent has contacted DHS and the Justice Department for comment.
The referral accused Noem, who has been axed from her position and will formally leave the department at the end of the month, of misleading Congress multiple times.
The lawmakers said Noem may have falsely claimed President Donald Trump was aware of her department’s plans to spend about $220 million on a controversial ad campaign that featured the official on horseback in front of Mt. Rushmore.
During her early March remarks before the Senate, Noem testified President Trump was aware of the planned campaign spending, which she said was awarded in a competitive bid process.
Trump later told Reuters he wasn’t aware of the spending, and the contracts for the campaign reportedly went to a hand-picked group of firms with ties to Noem and a top adviser.
“Even if Secretary Noem was the one telling the truth about the President’s knowledge, and she may well have been, she flatly misrepresented that the contract had been subject to a competitive bid,” the referral letter claims.
The Democratic lawmakers also accuse Noem, who has been reassigned to a diplomatic post overseeing the Shield of the Americas initiative, of being untruthful when she said DHS always follows court orders and upholds high detention standards.
They pointed to court rulings showing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement in fact violated hundreds of court orders in a span of a few months in just Minnesota.
The congressmen also pointed to regular allegations and internal audits which have found unsanitary and inhumane conditions inside immigrant detention centers, which are on track to have their worst year for in-custody deaths in more than two decades.
Noem may soon leave DHS, but she will continue to face heavy scrutiny, especially if Democrats manage to retake Congress during the 2026 midterms or future elections.
“While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years,” the Democratic lawmakers noted in their letter.
The Department of Homeland Security’s own internal watchdog is reportedly probing the contracting process behind the $220 million ad campaign, and it previously alleged DHS leadership has “systematically obstructed” the office’s work over the last year.
The Trump administration has previously pursued a high-profile case against a former official on perjury allegations.
Last year, it launched a prosecution against former FBI Director James Comey, in part by alleging he lied to Congress in 2020.
Comey pleaded not guilty and the case was later dismissed, though the DOJ has appealed.
The Trump DOJ has been reluctant to bring strong outside oversight against immigration officials.
The administration declined to bring a civil rights investigation after an ICE agent fatally shot Minneapolis protester and U.S. citizen Nicole Good in January and agents reportedly blocked state officials from accessing the shooting scene evidence and taking part in a full investigation.
Another Minneapolis protester, Alex Pretti, was shot by federal law enforcement that month, prompting widespread protests, and the DOJ later launched a civil rights investigation into his death.
