Kristi Noem Claims Staff Installed Software To Spy On Her - Newsweek

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she recently discovered that employees in her department installed software on her phone and laptop to spy on her.

She told the conservative podcast host Patrick Bet-David that her team by chance found a secure room, called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on a university campus, that "had secret files that nobody knew about on."

Noem also said that Elon Musk helped her identify some of her own employees who had installed spyware on her phone and her laptop.

Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), via email outside of normal working hours, for comment.

Why It Matters

Noem’s allegation surfaced as the Department of Homeland Security faces legal and political scrutiny over its surveillance practices, including a class-action lawsuit in Maine that names her and the agency in claims of using technology to intimidate legal observers.

The claim was made while Noem and Bet-David were talking about a so-called "deep state" operating within federal agencies, which frames her allegations as part of broader claims about internal resistance to her leadership.

What To Know

In the podcast episode, released on Thursday, Noem and Bet-David were discussing people’s questions around topics that often get connected to claims of a "deep state," including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Noem said the files discovered in the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility "had secret files that nobody knew about on some of these most controversial topics."

The room was found by an employee who "happened" to "walk by a door, wonder what it was and ask questions about it," she said. These files have now been turned over to attorneys.

Noem later said that Elon Musk and his team "helped me identify that some of my own employees in my department had downloaded software on my phone in my laptop to spy on me, to record our meetings and they had done that to several of the politicals."

What People Are Saying

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Bet-David’s podcast: "Even from the time I came into this office, Elon and his team were extremely helpful to me—they helped me identify that some of my own employees had downloaded software on my phone and my laptop to spy on me, to record our meetings—they had done that to several of the politicals. And so we ended up bringing in people."

What Happens Next

Noem’s office and DHS may face questions about her internal spying allegation and whether any personnel or security actions will follow.

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