Blumenthal & Welch Demand Mullin Provide Information, Records About Lewandowski Pay-to-Play DHS Contracting Scheme

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Peter Welch (D-VT) wrote Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin demanding information and records “mounting evidence of widespread corruption orchestrated by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) senior advisor Corey Lewandowksi.” The Senators’ letter follows reporting from the Wall Street Journal revealing that Lewandowski and his allies were engaged in an apparent pay-to-play scheme to influence the awarding of DHS contracts. According to the new report, Lewandowski also sought private payment arrangements from foreign governments in exchange for influencing DHS decision-making beyond contracting. “The overwhelming evidence of Mr. Lewandowski and his associates’ improper, self-serving influence over DHS decision-making at the highest levels can no longer be ignored or brushed aside. Congress and the American people must have a full and transparent assessment of the likely waste generated by and potential illegal activity committed by Mr. Lewandowski and any other individual who sought to improperly influence DHS contracting awards,” the Senators wrote. In August, Blumenthal and Welch, joined by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote Mullin about DHS’s wasteful purchase of 10 airplanes for $464 million via a no-bid contract. In their letter to Mullin, the Senators called out the Department’s growing and alarming reliance on no-bid contracts since the beginning of the second Trump Administration and raised concerns that the owner of the company that received the award also runs a company alleged to have solicited kickback payments to former DHS official Corey Lewandowski. Blumenthal and Welch previously demanded answers from Mullin about Lewandowski’s role in DHS contracting decisions in light of reports that Lewandowski potentially steered contract awards to benefit himself and his political allies while serving as a special government employee and advisor at DHS. The full text of today’s letter is available here and below. Dear Secretary Mullin: We write to demand that you promptly produce information and records that would provide Congress and the American people with full transparency into mounting evidence of widespread corruption orchestrated by former Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) senior advisor Corey Lewandowksi. Recent reporting alleges that Mr. Lewandowski and his allies were engaged in an apparent pay-to-play scheme to influence the awarding of lucrative DHS contracts. Mr. Lewandowski also apparently sought private payment arrangements from foreign governments in exchange for influencing DHS decision-making beyond contracting, an alarming development that raises critical national security questions. Despite our March 26, 2026, letter raising concerns about the extent of Mr. Lewandowski’s influence over contracting, [1] and public reporting suggesting that wasteful, no-bid contracting has become prevalent throughout DHS acquisitions, [2] DHS has not substantively responded to our requests and has produced no responsive records. We demand that you provide information and records responsive to the following requests that will permit us to fulfill our constitutional obligation of conducting oversight of your department. On September 7, 2026, public reporting revealed that Corey Lewandowski and his allies allegedly maintained a broader network of influence over DHS decision-making than was previously known. [3] While serving as a senior advisor to former Secretary Kristi Noem, Mr. Lewandowski allegedly approached the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates seeking agreement for private payment in exchange for “help. . . with any issues that fell under the department’s purview.” [4] Although the foreign governments refused, Mr. Lewandoski’s solicitations appear to be offers to “sell government services for personal gain.” [5] These new details add to extensive, consistent reporting that indicates that Mr. Lewandowski sought to influence specific DHS contracting decisions to punish prospective contractors that refused to curry favor with Mr. Lewandowski, including by paying him or entities affiliated with him kickbacks in exchange for awarding DHS contracts or subcontracts. [6] Mr. Lewandowski’s attempt to influence a multi-billion-dollar DHS contract with software company Palantir is just the most recently disclosed example of his effort to corruptly steer contracting decisions. After weeks of negotiation over a $2.7 billion blanket purchase agreement negotiated by DHS officials and Palantir representatives in the fall of 2025, the proposed agreement “sat for weeks on [former Secretary] Noem’s desk without a signature.” [7] DHS then reportedly asked Palantir to agree to a one-on-one meeting between Palantir CEO Alex Karp and Corey Lewandowski, “DHS officials repeatedly asked for the meeting, saying it needed to be a one-on-one meeting.” [8] When Palantir ultimately refused a one-on-one meeting, the company was told, without explanation, that the contract would be reduced to $1 billion. [9] The reduction appears to be consistent with “Lewandowski [telling] associates at the department that he was going to consolidate Palantir’s work across the agency so the company would receive less money.” [10] Mr. Lewandowski’s alleged associates appear to have pursued parallel influence schemes. Josh Whitehouse, an ally of Mr. Lewandowski and former New Hampshire Republican lawmaker, was installed as a special government employee at DHS. Despite his participation in high-level meetings with company executives, “senior [DHS] officials weren’t aware of any specific duties assigned to him.” [11] Mr. Whitehouse reportedly joined one of Mr. Lewandowski and Secretary Noem’s trips to the Middle East and “insisted on a side trip” to Romania to visit a Damen Shipyards facility from which he sought to have the Coast Guard purchase two icebreaker ships. [12] He allegedly pushed for the Coast Guard acquisition despite DHS officials concluding that the vessels would cost “hundreds of millions of dollars extra” to render them adequate for the Coast Guard’s needs and despite concerns that Damen “had recently been accused by Dutch prosecutors of circumventing European Union sanctions against Russia and of bribing public officials in different countries for years.” [13] Mr. Whitehouse also reportedly sought tariff exemptions for specific South American countries from officials within DHS. [14] Influence exerted by other allies of Mr. Lewandowski and Secretary Noem similarly raise troubling questions. Kara Voorhies, an ally of Mr. Lewandowski, was installed as a contractor at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) and may have improperly influenced that agency’s disaster recovery contracting decisions, all while being paid an unusually high amount of “as much as $19,000 a week.” [15] Yet another, unnamed ally of Mr. Lewandowski and Secretary Noem reportedly directed FEMA officials to award a terrorism prevention grant to “a nonprofit affiliated with Chris Stanley.” [16] Contracting records show that Mr. Stanley’s nonprofit, Common Sense Policy Institute, which “largely operates as a conservative watchdog group,” was awarded a $2.3 million terrorism prevention grant. [17] The overwhelming evidence of Mr. Lewandowski and his associates’ improper, self-serving influence over DHS decision-making at the highest levels can no longer be ignored or brushed aside. Congress and the American people must have a full and transparent assessment of the likely waste generated by and potential illegal activity committed by Mr. Lewandowski and any other individual who sought to improperly influence DHS contracting awards. Pursuant to our responsibility to oversee DHS and federal contracting, our offices are reviewing allegations of misconduct arising from Mr. Lewandowski’s tenure at DHS to assess whether and the extent to which laws and regulations governing honest services and federal procurement may require legislative reform. Any ongoing audit or investigation by the DHS Inspector General into related matters is not a legitimate basis for withholding information and records from Congress. Accordingly, please provide records [18] and detailed information responsive to the following requests no later than September 25, 2026. All information and records requested in our March 26, 2026, correspondence. All communications between any agent or representative of the governments of Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, and Corey Lewandowski. All communications between Josh Whitehouse and Corey Lewandowski. All communications between Kara Voorhies and Corey Lewandowski. All communications between Alex Karp, Palantir, or any agent thereof, and Corey Lewandowski. All draft agreements between DHS and Palantir as of September 30, 2025. -30- [1] Letter from Sens. Blumenthal, Welch to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin (March 26, 2026), https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026-03-26-Letter-from-Sen-Blumenthal-and-Sen-Welch-to-Secretary-Mullin.pdf. [2] See Letter from Sens. Blumenthal, Welch to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin (Aug. 25, 2026), https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026-8-25-Letter-from-Sens-Blumenthal-Welch-Schiff-to-Secretary-Mullin.pdf. [3] Tarini Parti, Josh Dawsey, Michelle Hackman, & Summer Said, Chasing Side Deals, Flexing Influence: Lewandowski’s Power Moves at DHS , Wall St. J. (Sept. 7, 2026), https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/corey-lewandowski-influence-dhs-43d3fe03. [4] Id . [5] Id . [6] See Letter from Sens. Blumenthal, Welch to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin (March 28, 2026), https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026-03-26-Letter-from-Sen-Blumenthal-and-Sen-Welch-to-Secretary-Mullin.pdf; Julia Ainsley, Matt Dixon, Jonathan Allen & Laura Strickler, Some DHS contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski , NBC News (Mar. 19, 2026), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dhs-contractors-told-white-house-officials-asked-pay-corey-lewandowski-rcna263744. [7] Parti, et al., supra note 3. [8] Id . [9] Id . [10] Id . [11] Id . [12] Id . [13] Id . [14] Id . [15] Id . [16] Id . [17] Id . [18] “Records” include any written, recorded, or graphic material of any kind, including letters, memoranda, reports, notes, electronic data (emails, email attachments, and any other electronically-created or stored information), calendar entries, inter-office communications, meeting minutes, phone/voice mail or recordings/records of verbal communications, and drafts (whether or not they resulted in final documents).