At least four companies are complaining that a longtime Homeland Security aide to Secretary Kristi Noem tried to shake them down if he agreed to give them government contracts.
NBC News reported Thursday that even President Donald Trump got involved at one point when one of his big donors was approached with the requirement that he pass "de facto chief of staff" Corey Lewandowski some money under the table.
One of the most contested Department of Homeland Security contracts is the $220 million spent on advertising to promote ICE, Border Patrol, and Noem herself. "Trump has also recently asked aides whether Lewandowski profited personally from the advertising campaign," NBC News also reported. At one point, Trump allegedly told advisers, “Corey made out on that one.”
The case of Lewandowski was raised by members of Trump's inner circle, who feared Lewandowski was raking in the dough on the backs of American taxpayers.
"GEO Group and several other companies in government contracting have complained to officials in Trump’s inner circle that Lewandowski, as a special government employee, has directly or indirectly stood to personally profit from the DHS contracting process, according to four senior White House officials," the report said, citing a former White House official.
Another top White House official told NBC News that there had been a “dozen” complaints about Lewandowski from at least four companies. All of them cite Lewandowski's involvement in the contracting process and all of them have allegations against the former aide.
Salus Worldwide Solutions inserted itself in a potential government contract negotiation. The company is owned by a big donor to the America First Institute, which Mark Meadows started after Trump's first term.
A marketing firm up for two possible DHS contracts said it was asked specifically to pay Lewandowski indirectly, one person involved in the matter said.
"The marketing firm official recounted the experience to an official in the Trump administration about two months later. That Trump administration official later confirmed the discussion with NBC News," the report said.
Salus asked the marketing firm whether they wanted a $20 million contract to create materials for an agency under the DHS umbrella.
"Getting in as a government subcontractor, which could lead to future deals, seemed to the marketing firm owner like a potentially lucrative opportunity, the person said. Salus representatives laid out most of the details on a September conference call with the marketing firm," NBC reported, citing a person familiar with the discussions.
There was one hitch: the marketing firm had to hire a subcontractor to "manage the relationship" with the government. The owner of the company had no idea what they were talking about. He had a lack of experience in federal contracting, so he was genuinely asking to understand.
“We are guaranteed this contract, but we need to make sure we are properly thanking the person who gave it to us,” the Salus representative told the owner, according to the report. That person: Corey Lewandowski. The marketing firm could hire any of his many consulting firms.
In a later call, the representative explained to the marketing firm owner that the contract would be worth $40 million to $50 million. They would get their $20 million, while the representative managing the relationship with the government would get its $20 million, the source told NBC.
"In both cases, the Salus representative made it clear to the marketing firm owner that hiring a Lewandowski-linked consultant was a condition of winning the contract, according to the person familiar with the discussions," the report says.
Salus lawyers and Lewandowski denied any conversation like that ever happened.
In both cases, “had a prospective subcontractor made us aware of such an alleged communication, Salus would have taken every step to identify whomever had misrepresented themselves as an agent of the company and turned that individual over to law enforcement,” the lawyer said. “Salus did not authorize anyone to hire or promise to hire any consultant in connection with any Salus subcontract, let alone as a condition of issuing such a subcontract.”
Yet the marketing firm turned down the deal, fearful "it might run afoul of the law."
Lewandowski's spokesperson called the allegations “patently false. Mr. Lewandowski had no conversations with anyone regarding a marketing contract.”
The spokesperson added, “Any insinuation that someone was speaking on behalf of Mr. Lewandowski was completely unauthorized and if undertaken, it was done so without his knowledge.”
