"Does it have a bedroom in it?" [View all]
Noem on Monday testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the DHS’s recent funding lapse. While that was the primary focus of the hearing, committee members also took the opportunity to confront Noem on the conduct of ICE agents across the country.
Two weeks earlier, it was revealed that Noem’s DHS was seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget to purchase a luxury Boeing 737 Max 8. The plane, which DHS had been leasing, was equipped with “a queen bed, showers, a kitchen, four large flat-screen TVs and even a bar,” according to a report from NBC News. The plane, the department claimed, was for deportation flights.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) brought up the plane during Monday’s hearing, prompting Noem to claim the luxury amenities were actually being removed.
Whitehouse then had a staffer hold up another photo of the plane’s interior. This one resembled a living room, featuring sofas and a TV.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/democrat-confronts-noem-luxury-jet-165752062.html
watch:
(excerpts)
Sec. Noem: Sir, I’m looking at a picture of an interior. It looks like a bedroom.
Sen. Whitehouse:: Of an airplane.
Sec. Noem: Yes, sir.
Sen. Whitehouse:: You’re not familiar with that?
Sec. Noem: These photos are not accurate if you’re referring to the airplanes that the Department of Homeland Security has purchased and are purchasing. We’re using them for long-range command and control aircraft that is dictated in statute by Congress for the Department of Homeland Security to have a plane–
Sen. Whitehouse:: You did not use luxury jet with a bedroom in it?
Sec. Noem: We used a 737. I’ve been on it once, but it is being used by other administration officials and it is used for command and control flights for the department. The department has found that in purchasing our aircraft, that we will save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars–
Sen. Whitehouse:: Does it have a bedroom in it?
Sec. Noem: –In fact, we spent $1.42 billion on ICE deportation flights last year.
Sen. Whitehouse:: Does it have a bedroom in it?
Sec. Noem: I believe it’s being refurbished and not having a bedroom in it, so it is being refurbished.
Sen. Whitehouse:: What kind of this? What kind of deportee justifies being flown out of the country in a luxury jet with a bedroom and accommodations like this?
Sec. Noem: There are aircraft being purchased that will be utilized for executive air travel and for deportations. If you remember–
Sen. Whitehouse:: Well, your people said that this was gonna be used for deportations.
Sec. Noem: –in the past, we have used jets of this size and this configuration for deportations in the past. If you remember the–
Sen. Whitehouse: In this configuration? By this configuration, you mean with a bedroom and luxury accommodations like this, you’ve used for deportations. Is that true?
Sec. Noem: []
The so-called ICE Barbie allegedly had her rumored beau, expired-special-employee Corey Lewandowski, fire a Coast Guard pilot last May after Noem neglected to bring her favorite weighted blanket onto the second flight of one of her trips.
“This was never about a blanket,” one insider with knowledge of the incident told the Mail. “The blanket was a cover story for what really happened. The whole thing was really about the bag that was left.”
Reports of the episode began to circulate earlier this month. A maintenance issue on one of Noem’s planes had forced her to land and deboard to another aircraft. The sudden switch inspired Lewandowski to fire the pilot responsible for flying the first plane—Keith Thomas, a commanding officer for the Coast Guard—after they discovered the blanket was missing.
Noem’s alleged affair with Lewandowski is one of the worst-kept secrets in Washington. The pair are practically inseparable, and have been spotted grinding on each other at parties and leaving each other’s apartments, despite the fact that they are both married to other people.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/real-reason-kristi-noem-fired-171444753.html
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