Senators Peter Welch and Richard Blumenthal are asking the subcontractors to turn over documentation related to the limited-bid contract.
Democratic Senators Peter Welch of Vermont and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut are requesting documents and information from two subcontractors behind the $220 million ad campaign that played a key role in outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s downfall.
In letters to Strategic Media Services Inc. and Smart Media Group LLC, first shared with National Review, the lawmakers request information regarding both companies’ agreements with Safe America Media LLC, a company that signed a limited-bid contract to produce advertising for the DHS marketing campaign and received $143 million as a result. After receiving the hefty contract, Safe America Media LLC hired Strategic Media Services and Smart Media to place the television ads, Bloomberg reported.
“Pursuant to our responsibility to oversee DHS and federal contracting, our offices are reviewing allegations of misconduct arising from federal contract awards to assess whether and the extent to which laws and regulations governing honest services and federal procurement may require legislative reform,” the Senators wrote to both companies on March 16.
This week’s letters are the latest congressional investigatory effort into a controversial DHS contract that has become a major source of consternation inside the White House and DHS. Hours before President Trump announced that Senator Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.) was his preferred pick to replace Kristi Noem to lead DHS, National Review reported that the president’s consideration of Mullin was in part related to his private fury that the outgoing DHS secretary repeatedly suggested in her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this month that he personally approved the Mount Rushmore ad campaign before DHS approved the contract.
National Review also reported this month that administration officials, lawmakers, and DHS officials have long suspected that Corey Lewandowski — Noem’s top aide at DHS and alleged paramour — has used his position as a special government employee to personally profit from department contracts. Lewandowski has public stated that he has no role in the contract approval process, and he and Noem have both denied for years that they are engaged in an extramarital affair.
As part of this week’s subcontractor probe, Welch and Blumenthal, who is ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, requested copies of the DHS subcontracts or any agreements with Safe America Media in connection with the ad campaign, invoices submitted to Safe America Media related to the marketing campaign, and any communications between both companies and senior DHS officials or Safe America Media personnel related to the production of the marketing campaign.
“Do you or Strategic Media have any contractual, lobbying, or other relationship with Corey Lewandowski that refers or relates to this contract? If so, please provide any documentation regarding that relationship,” the senators ask in both letters. “Did Smart Media directly or indirectly compensate—financially or otherwise—any DHS personnel, including but not limited to Special Government Employees, in connection with the DHS ad campaign?
Representatives for DHS, Strategic Media Services Inc., and Smart Media Group LLC did not respond to National Review’s requests for comment on the letters.
Safe America Media Inc., which was incorporated days before receiving the multi-million-dollar DHS contract, has no website or publicly listed email address and could not be reached for comment. The company is run by Republican operatives Patrick McCarthy and Michael McElwain and registered under McElwain’s personal home address, according to ProPublica.
DHS awarded another $77 million chunk of the $220 million contract to People Who Think LLC, a group co-founded by Republican operative Jay Connaughton, who previously worked on Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry’s 2023 campaign alongside top DHS aide Corey Lewandowski.
The senators’ March 16 requests for information from the subcontractors follow an earlier batch of letters they sent to DHS contractors People Who Think, Safe America Media, and a subcontractor called The Strategy Group requesting information related to the DHS agreements. The Strategy Group is run by Ben Yoho, who is married to former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
“The production work for Safe America Media LLC for those two task orders total $226,137.17 which covers 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements, and 6 produced radio advertisements,” Yoho wrote in a response letter, which also took issue with multiple U.S. Senators’ characterization of his company’s subcontracting role during the Senate Judiciary hearing.
Pressed for comment for this story, McLaughlin forwarded a statement from DHS General Counsel James Percival dismissing concerns about her alleged involvement in the DHS contract award process.
“I have personally reviewed the allegations against Ms. McLaughlin, and I find them to be baseless,” Percival said. “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.”