Overview
- Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jamie Raskin on March 16 sent a criminal referral asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether Noem lied during March 3–4 oversight hearings.
- The letter targets statements about a $220 million advertising campaign, the contract’s bidding process, ICE detaining U.S. citizens, detention conditions, and adherence to federal court orders.
- Durbin and Raskin cite a Minnesota ruling by Judge Patrick J. Schiltz finding ICE violated 210 court orders in 143 cases, contradicting Noem’s assurances about compliance.
- Noem testified that President Trump approved the ad campaign, but Trump later told Reuters he “never knew anything about it,” and Democrats point to procurement records showing use of “other than full and open competition.”
- DHS called the perjury claims “categorically false,” the Justice Department acknowledged receiving the referral and criticized it, and Democrats noted a five-year statute of limitations as they press for potential future action while Markwayne Mullin’s DHS nomination heads to a Senate hearing this week.