Expenses included signing bonus, horse rental, hair and makeup
WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations today release new information on payments made under a subcontract issued to The Strategy Group Company as part of the $220 million advertising campaign for recently-ousted Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Expenses included tens of thousands of dollars spent on a “signing bonus” to Strategy Group, a horse rental, hair and makeup services, more than $100,000 in labor costs and more than $40,000 in other vendor costs.
“This looks like waste, fraud, and abuse to me,” said Senator Welch. “While leading the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem and her senior team allowed tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to be spent on wasteful production costs, a shady signing bonus, and a very expensive horse rental—and that’s just what we know so far. All the companies involved in Noem’s ad campaign have an obligation to be transparent about how taxpayer funds were used, and if anyone at DHS benefited. I urge the companies DHS contracted and sub-contracted with to tell the public what they know.”
“Today, we are pulling back the curtain on the tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars Kristi Noem squandered on extravagant production costs for her personal ad campaign while leading the Department of Homeland Security,” said Senator Blumenthal. “This absurd waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer funds is completely unacceptable. I will continue to demand the answers the American people deserve about how these funds were used and whether any federal officials profited from DHS contracts.”
Earlier this month, Senators Welch and Blumenthal requested documents and information from companies involved in producing and placing advertisements featuring Secretary Noem riding a horse at Mount Rushmore. The taxpayer-funded ads were produced after the Secretary and her senior leadership bypassed a competitive bidding process to award no-bid contracts to firms in which she and her senior advisors, including Corey Lewandowski and Tricia McLaughlin, had ties.
Safe America Media was awarded a $143 million no-bid contract from the Department of Homeland Security in February 2025 to produce and place ad campaigns for the agency. The company was incorporated only seven days prior to receiving the award and is registered to the home address of a longtime political operative.
The ads were filmed by The Strategy Group Company, which is led by the husband of Noem’s then-spokesperson and Assistant Secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, and who has a long association with Noem and Lewandowski.
In response to the Senators’ letter, The Strategy Group Company provided partial responses to the documents and information requested. The Senators are providing an accounting of expenses contained in invoices provided to their offices, including:
$107,405 Labor costs to The Strategy Group Company
$60,000 “Signing bonus” to The Strategy Group Company
$52,599* Videography, photography, and production vendors
$20,000* Horse rentals
$3,781* Hair and makeup services
$500 Magic Makers, Inc., a magic store based in Sioux Falls, SD
$41,852 Other vendors
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$286,137 Total cost in taxpayer dollars
Earlier this month, Senators Welch and Blumenthal wrote to The Strategy Group Company, Safe America Media LLC, and People Who Think LLC requesting documents and information related to contracts they received under Secretary Noem’s ad campaign. This week, the Senators wrote to Republican advertising companies Strategic Media Services Inc. and Smart Media Group LLC requesting information and records related to their agreements with Safe America Media, which reportedly engaged both companies to place the taxpayer-funded ads. Both Strategic Media and Smart Media Group worked on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign when Lewandowski served as campaign manager and on Trump’s 2024 campaign when Lewandowski served as a Senior Advisor to the campaign.
*Amounts reflect identifiable vendors.
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