Lewandowski inquiry reaches Justice Department

The inquiry began with questions about how a $220 million advertising contract featuring then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was awarded. It later expanded, according to a source familiar with the investigation, after NBC News reported allegations that Lewandowski sought payment in exchange for protecting and advancing the interests of GEO Group as it sought government contracts unrelated to that ad campaign.

That referral does not amount to a charge, and NBC’s report does not say whether prosecutors have opened a criminal case. But it does shift the matter from an internal watchdog investigation to the department that decides whether alleged conduct warrants prosecution.

Adam Trigg, a lawyer for Lewandowski, told NBC News that Lewandowski had not been contacted by the Justice Department and “denies any wrongdoing” during his government service. In an earlier denial relayed by NBC, a spokesperson for Lewandowski said claims that he demanded money from GEO Group were “absolutely false.”

NBC reported that sources had previously described two meetings with GEO Group at which Lewandowski allegedly asked the company to pay him, including what one source called a “success fee.” NBC said the company declined those requests.

The contract that first drew scrutiny was tied to a costly publicity campaign centered on Noem. Before President Donald Trump fired her, Noem publicly said she had personally approved the contracts and said Trump knew of her involvement. Trump later told NBC he had not known about the spending and was displeased by it.

The investigation had surfaced publicly at Markwayne Mullin’s Senate confirmation hearing, where the now-Homeland Security secretary testified that the department’s inspector general was looking into the contract. By the time Trump was asked about the referral itself, he told NBC: “I heard something about it, but I don’t know exactly what it is. 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.”