Gallego Leads Homeland Security Committee Dems in Demanding Answers on Corey Lewandowski’s Alleged ‘Pay-to-Play’ Scheme at DHS

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) led Democrats from the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee in demanding answers over reports that former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) advisor Corey Lewandowski solicited personal payments from companies in exchange for government contracts. In a series of letters sent to DHS and contractors GEO Group and Salus Worldwide Solutions, the Senators raised concerns that Lewandowski’s alleged conduct may violate federal bribery and ethics laws. “Recent reporting describes a troubling pattern of alleged pay-to-play conduct by Mr. Lewandowski. According to the report, in one instance, during the presidential transition, Mr. Lewandowski reportedly told the founder of GEO Group, a major private prison company that runs detention facilities for DHS, that he would need to be paid in exchange for protecting and growing the company’s DHS contracts,” the Senators wrote. “The report further alleges that a marketing firm abandoned plans to pursue DHS contracts after being told by representatives of Salus Worldwide Solutions, whose CEO has close ties to the Trump administration, that hiring a consultant tied to Mr. Lewandowski was a condition of being selected for the work.” “If true, this conduct constitutes a blatant abuse of public trust and a violation of federal bribery and procurement integrity laws and regulations,” the Senators continued. The Senators also raised concerns that Lewandowski may have been directly involved in reviewing or influencing contracts worth more than $100,000 despite previous testimony from DHS leadership that he had no such role. “Federal law is unambiguous: it is illegal for any public official to corruptly demand or accept anything of value in exchange for being influenced in the performance of any official act,” the Senators concluded. “It is essential that the public maintains full confidence in the integrity of federal spending, ensuring that all contracts are awarded through a competitive, merit-based process that upholds the highest ethical standards, rather than personal influence.” In addition to Gallego, Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) and Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) also signed the letter. Read the full letter to DHS HERE . Read the full letter to GEO Group HERE . Read the full letter to Salus Worldwide Solutions HERE .