Kristi Noem
Fired as Secretary of Homeland Security, March 2026
5 findings
What the labels mean
- ConvictedA criminal jury found them guilty.
- Found liableA civil jury ruled against them.
- Court ruledA judge ruled against them or their policy.
- Watchdog foundAn inspector general, Congress's auditors at the GAO or UN investigators.
- AdmittedThey acknowledged it, or their own government's records and court filings show it.
- On recordSomething they said or did in public.
- ReportedNews reporting they deny or haven't confirmed.
- AllegedAccusations in lawsuits, complaints or from sources. Unproven.
Admitted or on record 2
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On record
In her memoir, she wrote about shooting her 14-month-old puppy.
The same book claimed she’d met Kim Jong Un. She hadn’t, and the publisher took it out. Of the book, she said, “I’m not retracting anything.”
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On record
She said Alex Pretti came at agents with a gun. Videos appear to show an agent taking his holstered gun before he was shot.
Videos verified by NBC appear to show an agent taking a holstered gun from Pretti before he was shot on his knees. He had a permit to carry. Seventeen days earlier, within hours of an ICE officer killing Renee Good, Noem called Good’s actions “an act of domestic terrorism.”
Reported and alleged 3
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Reported
DHS awarded up to $220 million in no-bid ads starring her, including a shoot on horseback at Mount Rushmore.
About $143 million went to a company formed days before it got the work. Republican Sen. John Kennedy told her, “My research shows you did not bid them out.” DHS called the reporting defamatory. The Justice Department is now investigating whether her top adviser, Corey Lewandowski, profited from DHS contracts, CBS reported. He hasn’t been charged, says he hasn’t been contacted, and denies wrongdoing.
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Reported
She filmed a video at El Salvador’s mega-prison. CBS could find no criminal record for three in four of the Venezuelans sent there.
Noem at the bars of a crowded cell at CECOT, El Salvador’s mega-prison, March 26, 2025. DHS photo by Tia Dufour She recorded it in front of a cell of Salvadoran gang members. CBS reviewed records for 238 Venezuelan men and found criminal records for 22%. DHS said many “are actually terrorists… They just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.”
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Reported
Trump fired her.
It came days after senators from both parties grilled her. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis told her, “You’ve failed at FEMA.”