The writing was already on the wall before President Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem from her post as Homeland Security Secretary.
Key officials tied to some projects that have received massive scrutiny for their hefty price tags left the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the weeks leading up to Noem&#8217;s ouster.
Tricia McLaughlin, Noem&#8217;s chief spokeswoman, left the agency last month. At the time, DHS said she began planning to leave in December, but stayed on in the aftermath of the two fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.
McLaughlin was tied to the scandal that led to Noem&#8217;s demise involving $200 million contracts for flashy TV ads promoting the secretary.
Last week, Noem testified to Congress that the contracts “went out to a competitive bid and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/docs-show-dhs-specifically-steered-200m-ad-contracts-raising-questions-about-noems-testimony?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Docs+Show+DHS+Specifically+Steered+%24200M+Ad+Contracts%2C+Raising+Questions+About+Noem%E2%80%99s+Testimony" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Records obtained by The Daily Wire</a> showed that the contracts were awarded using “other than full and open competition” to a company formed days before. That company subcontracted some of the work to a group run by McLaughlin&#8217;s husband.
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), on behalf of the Office of DHS Public Affairs office intends to limit competition to three contractors,” a justification for the decision said.
A competition waiver stated that the department researched the internet and “industry publications” to choose Safe America Media LLC to produce the ads.
The subcontractor, Strategy Group, said Tuesday it “has never had a contract with DHS,” adding that “We had a subcontract with Safe America for limited production services.”
“Safe America paid us $226,137.17 total for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements, and 6 produced radio advertisements,” the company said.
McLaughlin referred The Daily Wire to a recent statement from DHS General Counsel James Percival, who said he&#8217;s &#8220;personally reviewed the allegations&#8221; against her and &#8220;find them to be baseless.&#8221;
&#8220;Nothing illegal or unethical occurred with respect to these contracts. Ms. McLaughlin was not involved in selecting any subcontractors. She is, however, a superstar in the public affairs world, so I am not surprised that she married a successful businessman whose services were attractive to these outside firms,&#8221; Percival said.
McLaughlin herself said in a phone conversation with The Daily Wire that &#8220;As soon as it became clear that my husband&#8217;s firm would at all be involved in subcontracting, which subcontracting DHS has no &#8230; there&#8217;s no legal mechanism that we can dictate who is subcontracted to,&#8221; adding &#8220;So as soon as that became clear to me &#8230; I immediately firewalled, recused myself from anything with subcontractors.&#8221;
Then-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, who left the Trump administration in January to launch a campaign for Congress in Ohio, was involved in a separate $100 million campaign to recruit more immigration officers, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/noem-handpicked-contractors-lead-100-million-ice-recruitment-campaign-rcna261968" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to NBC News. The contract was awarded to People Who Think and Safe America Media.
Sheahan previously served as the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and worked for Noem as she served as the South Dakota governor.
But before it was handed out to those groups, Sheahan battled with an ICE employee she threatened after he suggested that the agency consider other contractors that were offering to do the work for a cheaper price, according to NBC, which cited internal communications. The decision to award the contract, she said, was &#8220;made by the secretary.&#8221;
Sheahan called the employee into her office before yelling at him for trying to go against the secretary, an administration official who heard the conversation told NBC.
The employee eventually gave up the fight and let the contracts go to the companies of Noem&#8217;s choosing, according to the report.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We will have our country back.<a href="https://t.co/nZkBEj4evQ">https://t.co/nZkBEj4evQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/gYKzwMJV52">pic.twitter.com/gYKzwMJV52</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1956091376246071553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
Sheahan also wasted millions in taxpayer funds to purchase a couple of thousand flashy pickup trucks and SUVs emblazoned with ICE&#8217;s logo, despite agents working in a heightened threat environment, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/4478925/deputy-director-ice-bought-thousands-marked-vehicles-cannot-use/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The Washington Examiner.
Three Homeland Security sources told The Daily Wire they believe the cars only exposed them at a time when threats against ICE are at an all-time high. The sources were granted anonymity because they&#8217;re not authorized to speak publicly.
The agency traditionally uses unmarked vehicles to maintain the element of surprise and protect their safety. ICE agents currently face an 8,000% increase in death threats and a 1,300% surge in assaults, according to DHS.
One source called the decision to deploy the cars &#8220;absurd,&#8221; adding that agents who were forced to use the cars &#8220;were apoplectic&#8221; feeling they put a &#8220;huge target on them.&#8221;
Another source said it &#8220;does not make sense&#8221; &#8220;for an agency that arrests individuals hiding and trying to prevent us from doing our job.&#8221;
&#8220;The need for surveillance, the element of surprise, and the need to remain inconspicuous, requires the use of unmarked vehicles,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;We would never be able to arrest anyone rolling around in a marked ICE vehicle that would alert anyone and everyone to our presence in the area.&#8221;
DHS pushed back on claims that the cars were a waste of taxpayer funds, telling The Daily Wire that &#8220;Any allegation that these new vehicles are not being used is FALSE.&#8221;
“Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE finally has the resources to grow its workforce to support ICE’s mission, and that will include all types of additional vehicles,&#8221; the agency said. &#8220;These specific vehicles are supplementing the existing ICE fleet and support operations across the country.&#8221;

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Before Noem’s Ouster, Key Officials Tied To Costly And Wasteful Projects Left DHS

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Before Noem’s Ouster, Key Officials Tied To Costly And Wasteful Projects Left DHS