Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s husband, Bryon, joined her in Congress for a second day and sat behind his wife as lawmakers peppered her with questions.
Noem, both on Tuesday before the Senate and Wednesday before the House, thanked him for being there for her during the contentious hearings, where her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security faced questions.
“I also want to take a personal privilege and thank my husband for being here too. He’s going to have to go catch a flight in a few hours, but I’m glad he could be here today,” Noem said Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
He didn’t return after the lawmakers took a break about two hours into the hearing.
It was a rare public showing from her husband, who runs an insurance company in Bryant, South Dakota.
Bryon Noem’s appearance comes as questions swirl about Kristi Noem’s relationship with Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump strategist who serves as a special employee at DHS.
Lewandowski didn’t appear to be at either hearing but his name was mentioned.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked Noem about an incident where a Coast Guard pilot who was reportedly fired for leaving Noem’s blanket behind when she had to change government planes.
“Apparently, when your special blanket, your blankie, was left on one of the government jets and not transported over the new one, your special government employee, Corey Lewandowski, chivalrously stepped forward,” Raskin said as Noem and her husband listened.
Lewandowski, 49, was Trump’s first 2016 campaign manager and widely credited with engineering his victory in the 2016 New Hampshire primary.
However, Lewandowski’s star began to fade after he was accused of manhandling Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields following a Trump press conference in March 2016.
He also served as a “volunteer” adviser to Noem when she was governor of South Dakota.Noem married Bryon Noem in 1992 in South Dakota.
They have three children.
Lewandowski has been married to Alison Hardy since 2005.
