Senator Hassan Presses DHS on Investigation into Corey Lewandowski’s Alleged Corruption & Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, today issued requests to the newly-confirmed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Under Secretary for Management for additional details on the ongoing investigation into former DHS official Corey Lewandowski’s reported corruption and abuse of taxpayer dollars during his time at the department. “The allegations against Mr. Lewandowski, if true, indicate significant corruption, abuse of taxpayer funds, and flagrant conflicts of interest that require Congressional investigation based on a comprehensive record of his tenure at DHS,” wrote Senator Hassan in her request. The need for Congressional investigation is especially urgent given the possibility that DHS contracts that arose from alleged wrongdoing by Mr. Lewandowski may still be ongoing. In June, Senator Hassan opened an investigation into allegations against Lewandowski, and she subsequently questioned DHS Under Secretary for Management nominee Brian Cavanaugh about the matter during his nomination hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In her follow up request today, Senator Hassan wrote, “In response to my questioning, you confirmed that Secretary Mullin had begun the process of reviewing contracts that Mr. Lewandowski might have approved in connection with potential self-dealing and corrupt pay-to-play schemes and indicated that you would personally oversee this process. After I asked if you would provide Congress with the information it needs to conduct an independent investigation into alleged corruption by Mr. Lewandowski, you committed to ‘being open and transparent and accountable with the [Congressional] oversight committees.’” Read the full text of Senator Hassan’s request to Under Secretary Cavanaugh here or below. Dear Under Secretary Cavanaugh: I write today to follow up on your testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on June 17, 2026, and request documents related to the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) review of Corey Lewandowski’s reported corruption and abuse of taxpayer dollars during his time at DHS. During your nomination hearing before the Committee, I raised serious allegations that Mr. Lewandowski, a former DHS employee, had abused his position to profit personally from blatant corruption through the DHS contracting process. As I detailed in a letter I sent to Mr. Lewandowski on June 11, 2026, for example, he allegedly asked for compensation from a DHS contractor based on new or renewed contracts. During his tenure, former political associates of Mr. Lewandowski also received a public affairs consulting contract from DHS despite having no prior experience in homeland security policy. Mr. Lewandowski also reportedly reviewed all contracts worth more than $100,000 prior to approval by former Secretary Kristi Noem, which apparently resulted in delays for critical DHS activities. In response to my questioning, you confirmed that Secretary Mullin had begun the process of reviewing contracts that Mr. Lewandowski might have approved in connection with potential self-dealing and corrupt pay-to-play schemes and indicated that you would personally oversee this process. After I asked if you would provide Congress with the information it needs to conduct an independent investigation into alleged corruption by Mr. Lewandowski, you committed to “being open and transparent and accountable with the [Congressional] oversight committees.” As the chief management officer and senior acquisition official at DHS, you now have responsibility for overseeing DHS procurement activities and ensuring that the Department spends taxpayer dollars lawfully and effectively. The allegations against Mr. Lewandowski, if true, indicate significant corruption, abuse of taxpayer funds, and flagrant conflicts of interest that require Congressional investigation based on a comprehensive record of his tenure at DHS. Given the seriousness of the allegations and your commitments before HSGAC, I request that you please provide the following documents and information by September 1, 2026: All documents establishing, directing, authorizing, or describing the contract review process that you referenced during the Committee nomination hearing, including memoranda, directives, briefing materials, and investigative plans. The date on which the review was initiated and the identities of all DHS personnel, offices, contractors, or outside entities participating in the review. Any interim findings, reports, memoranda, presentations, briefing materials, or recommendations generated as part of the review. Any referrals, notifications, or communications concerning the review made to: a) DHS Office of Inspector General; b) DHS Office of General Counsel; c) DHS ethics officials; d) Department of Justice; e) U.S. Office of Special Counsel; or f) Any other investigative or law enforcement entity. A list of every contract or other transaction currently under review. A list of every contract or other transaction that the contract review process has identified as one in which Mr. Lewandowski participated, reviewed, recommended, commented upon, attended meetings regarding, received briefing materials regarding, approved, or otherwise influenced in any manner. A list of every contract or other transaction that the contract review process has identified as being delayed, accelerated, canceled, denied, restructured, or otherwise altered following input from Mr. Lewandowski. For each matter identified in response to Request 6 or Request 7, please provide the contract number, vendor, value, competition status, contracting office, and responsible contracting officer. For every transaction identified in response to Request 6 or Request 7, please provide: a) Routing sheets, decision memoranda, or any other materials regarding approval of the transaction; b) All proposals received by DHS, including all solicited and unsolicited bids; c) Base contract awards and documents reflecting any proposed changes to base contracts; d) Documents reflecting all contract modifications, task orders, delivery orders, and invoices; e) All related DHS procurement planning and decision-making documents; and f) All related communications, including social media messages, Signal chats, and other official and personal communications, between Mr. Lewandowski and contractors, advisors, and all DHS leadership or management responsible for overseeing and implementing these transactions, including contracting officers and program managers. All complaints, allegations, referrals, hotline submissions, ethics inquiries, or misconduct reports concerning Mr. Lewandowski and pay-to-play allegations; conflicts of interest; other procurement integrity violations; or retaliation against employees who raised procurement concerns. A description of all procurement, contracting, and management process changes that DHS has implemented since the departure of Mr. Lewandowski and former Secretary Noem. ###