WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin demanding information and records regarding the “mounting evidence of widespread corruption orchestrated by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) senior advisor Corey Lewandowksi.”
The Senators’ letter follows reporting from the Wall Street Journal revealing that Lewandowski and his allies were engaged in an apparent pay-to-play scheme to influence the awarding of DHS contracts. According to the new report, Lewandowski also sought private payment arrangements from foreign governments in exchange for influencing DHS decision-making beyond contracting.
“The overwhelming evidence of Mr. Lewandowski and his associates’ improper, self-serving influence over DHS decision-making at the highest levels can no longer be ignored or brushed aside. Congress and the American people must have a full and transparent assessment of the likely waste generated by and potential illegal activity committed by Mr. Lewandowski and any other individual who sought to improperly influence DHS contracting awards,” the Senators wrote.
In August, Welch and Blumenthal, joined by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), wrote to Mullin about DHS’s wasteful purchase of 10 airplanes for $464 million via a no-bid contract. In their letter to Mullin, the Senators called out the Department’s growing and alarming reliance on no-bid contracts since the beginning of the second Trump Administration and raised concerns that the owner of the company that received the award also runs a company alleged to have solicited kickback payments to former DHS official Corey Lewandowski.
Welch and Blumenthal also previously demanded answers from Mullin about Lewandowski’s role in DHS contracting decisions in light of reports that Lewandowski potentially steered contract awards to benefit himself and his political allies while serving as a special government employee and advisor at DHS.
The full text of today’s letter is available here.
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