By Nate Raymond
March 28 (Reuters) – Corey Lewandowski, who was an aide to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, no longer works at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a spokesperson for the agency said on Saturday.
Lewandowski “no longer has a role at DHS,” the DHS spokesperson said, without providing further details. Lewandowski had been an unpaid adviser to Noem. He previously served as President Donald Trump’s campaign manager in the 2016 election.
Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment. The department’s confirmation of his departure was first reported by Politico.
Trump fired Noem earlier this month, saying she would become special envoy to a new “Shield of the Americas” initiative to promote his security policies in the Western Hemisphere. Noem has since been replaced as the head of DHS by former U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin, whom the Senate confirmed on Tuesday.
The close relationship between Lewandowski and Noem drew scrutiny. At a congressional hearing earlier this month, a Democratic lawmaker asked Noem directly whether she had a sexual relationship with Lewandowski — a question Noem dismissed as “tabloid garbage.”
Lewandowski appeared with Noem in photos released on Wednesday by the U.S. embassy in Guyana, which showed him by her side in meetings with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali.
Noem, in her new role, reports to Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. A State Department official earlier this week declined to explain to Reuters why Lewandowski was on the trip with Noem but said he would not be joining the department in any capacity.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel)
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