Trump Says Dishonest Aides Must Face Prosecution Amid Corey Lewandowski Probe

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said officials who act dishonestly should face prosecution after reports emerged that the Justice Department is investigating whether his longtime ally Corey Lewandowski improperly profited from his former position at the Department of Homeland Security.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, 22 October, Trump acknowledged hearing about the inquiry but said he did not know the details. He offered no immediate defence of Lewandowski, his first campaign manager during the 2016 presidential race and later a powerful adviser to former Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem.

“All I know is, I want my people to be honest. And if they’re not going to be honest, they have to be prosecuted,” Trump said.

“I’ll have my DOJ go and do whatever they have to do,” he added.

Lewandowski denies wrongdoing. His attorney, Adam Trigg, told The Associated Press that his client had not been contacted by the Justice Department about an investigation and rejected allegations of misconduct during what he described as voluntary government service.

Lewandowski has not been charged with a crime.

The reported investigation brings federal prosecutors into a controversy that has followed DHS for months: how contracting decisions were made under Noem, who exercised influence over them, and whether public positions were used for private financial benefit.

ABC News, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that prosecutors were examining DHS contracting during the first year of Trump’s second administration and scrutinising Lewandowski’s conduct. The inquiry was described as being in its early stages, following a referral from DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the Justice Department review. According to its reporting, the department’s internal watchdog had passed findings concerning Lewandowski’s tenure to federal prosecutors.

The development is politically significant because it involves someone with longstanding ties to Trump. The Associated Press described scrutiny of Lewandowski as a departure for a Justice Department that has devoted substantial effort to investigating and attempting to prosecute the president’s political critics. Trump’s response placed the emphasis on honesty while leaving unanswered what he knew about the allegations themselves.

Lewandowski’s position at Homeland Security had already attracted attention because of the apparent gap between his temporary employment status and his influence within the department.

He served as a special government employee, a designation intended to bring people into federal service for temporary work. Nevertheless, he became one of Noem’s closest advisers and, according to ABC News, effectively operated as her chief of staff.

The Journal reported that Lewandowski or close associates approved nearly all departmental spending decisions exceeding US$100,000, giving them substantial influence over contractors seeking government business. It also reported that investigators were examining potential contracting fraud. Lewandowski has previously denied involvement in approving DHS contracts and denied seeking foreign contracts while serving in government.

The special government employee designation carries specific rules. Guidance from the US Office of Government Ethics says agencies may appoint someone under that classification when they expect the person to serve no more than 130 days during a 365-day period.

Those appointments can be paid or unpaid. They remain subject to government standards of conduct, although the application of particular restrictions depends on the employee’s circumstances and days of service.

The distinction matters because the classification is based on an estimate of expected service, rather than a simple count of calendar days since appointment. The ethics guidance also explains that substantive work during part of a day can count towards an employee’s service total. These rules provide the framework for assessing such appointments; they do not establish whether Lewandowski breached any requirement.

The department’s leadership changed in March, when Noem and Lewandowski departed following intense scrutiny of spending decisions. ABC News reported that their departures followed a congressional hearing at which Noem said Trump knew about a US$220 million advertising campaign featuring her prominently. Both Noem and Lewandowski have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Noem’s successor, Markwayne Mullin, later scrapped the US$100,000 approval rule, saying management should review contracts worth US$25 million or more.

By April, the inspector general’s examination of contracting under Noem was already being reported publicly. ABC News reported on 2 April that investigators were looking at contracts handled during her tenure and Lewandowski’s influence over departmental decisions.

At that time, the inspector general’s office declined to confirm or deny criminal or administrative investigations, while acknowledging that it was auditing DHS grants and contracts. Mullin had told senators during his confirmation hearing that the department would cooperate with the watchdog’s work.

That earlier scrutiny provides the background to Thursday’s reports. Questions about contract approvals and the authority exercised by senior advisers had been under examination well before the Justice Department’s involvement became public.

Congressional inquiries developed alongside the watchdog’s work.

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan opened an investigation in June into allegations concerning Lewandowski’s conduct. In an August follow-up, she sought information from DHS Under Secretary for Management Brian Cavanaugh about the department’s review of contracts Lewandowski might have influenced.

Hassan’s published letter said Cavanaugh had confirmed during his June nomination hearing that Mullin had begun reviewing relevant contracts and that Cavanaugh would oversee that process.

Her requests extended beyond whether Lewandowski formally signed an agreement. She sought records identifying transactions in which he had participated, made recommendations, attended meetings, received briefings or otherwise exercised influence.

The senator also requested information about contracts that had been delayed, accelerated, cancelled or changed following his involvement, together with vendor details, contract values and communications. That request illustrates the breadth of the congressional examination: lawmakers were seeking to reconstruct how decisions moved through the department and who shaped their outcomes.

In September, Democratic Senators Peter Welch and Richard Blumenthal separately pressed Mullin for information and records concerning alleged improper influence over DHS contracting.

Their intervention followed further Journal reporting about Lewandowski’s activities, including allegations that he sought private payment arrangements connected to government decision-making. The senators called for a fuller accounting of potential waste and misconduct.

Those demands were congressional allegations and requests for evidence, rather than findings by a court. They nevertheless added another avenue of scrutiny to the department’s internal reviews and the inspector general’s investigation.

Public access to records from Lewandowski’s tenure has also become part of the story. The Associated Press reported that The Washington Sun had encountered denials of some DHS records requests because of an ongoing criminal investigation. The precise scope of the allegations against Lewandowski remained unclear in the AP’s account.

The Justice Department declined to comment to Valcored News on the reported inquiry. With prosecutors’ work described as preliminary and Lewandowski’s lawyer saying his client had not been contacted, the department has yet to publicly set out a case explaining which transactions it is examining or what conduct it believes may warrant prosecution.