How Much Is Kristi Noem's Alleged Adultery Airplane Costing You?

Rumors of an affair between Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump administration political adviser Corey Lewandowski have been flying for months.

And all that flying, it turns out, might come with a big price tag for taxpayers.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Noem and Lewandowski have recently been traveling together aboard a luxury Boeing 737 MAX jet that includes a private cabin in the rear. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is “leasing the plane but is in the process of acquiring it for approximately $70 million,” the Journal reports, citing people familiar with the plane.

That is just one small detail amid the explosive and deeply reported piece, which details a pattern of behavior that is both self-aggrandizing and petty. In one incident, Lewandowski reportedly fired a Coast Guard pilot for leaving Noem’s blanket on a plane (it is unclear whether that was the 737 MAX or a different plane), only to reinstate the pilot when a replacement could not be found. The report comes at a time when Noem is under intense scrutiny for her role in ordering the high-profile and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis that led to the deaths of two American citizens at the hands of federal officers.

The salacious rumors of an affair between Noem and Lewandowski—both of whom are married to other people—surface repeatedly in the Journal’s article but have been denied by the two officials.

The deeper, indisputable truth is that taxpayers are being forced to support an aircraft-buying binge at the DHS that goes beyond the alleged adultery airplane used by Noem and Lewandowski.

Last year, the department purchased a fleet of six commercial jets, ostensibly to carry out deportation flights, at a cost of $140 million. It is unclear whether Noem’s plane with the private cabin is one of those or an additional plane.

The aircraft in question was apparently identified last year by The War Zone, a blog covering the national security state. The plane has a cabin configuration designed to accommodate 17 passengers and was being marketed at the time for its “extremely luxurious interior layout that includes two suites with full-size beds and a master bathroom with a shower stall, among many other amenities,” according to a brochure reviewed by The War Zone.

Even if Noem and Lewandowski are not using the plane for, um, activities that go beyond their official duties, there ought to be hard questions asked about whether taxpayers are getting screwed.

Indeed, there was a time—not even a year ago—when the Trump administration was promising to cut wasteful spending and hold government officials accountable to taxpayers. If the Journal‘s reporting turns out to be accurate, the mess at DHS looks a lot like the complete opposite of that.

The post How Much Is Kristi Noem’s Alleged Adultery Airplane Costing You? appeared first on Reason.com.