Democrats Push DOJ to Prosecute Kristi Noem After Trump Ousts Her From DHS
Fred Lucas /
For top Democrats, it’s not enough that Kristi Noem is out as homeland security secretary; they want the Trump Justice Department to prosecute her.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his House counterpart, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, made a criminal referral alleging that Noem lied under oath to Congress.
“We write to refer evidence showing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem repeatedly misled the Senate Committee on the Judiciary during her testimony on March 3, 2026, and the House Committee on the Judiciary during her testimony on March 4, 2026,” Durbin and Raskin said in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi Monday.
“A number of her statements appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress,” the letter continues.
The two Democrat lawmakers have consistently opposed the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement carried out by the Department of Homeland Security.
In the letter to Bondi, Durbin and Raskin said the Justice Department should investigate whether Noem made false statements to Congress regarding the Department of Homeland Security’s compliance with court orders, contracting, detaining U.S. citizens, and detention conditions.
“Making false statements to Congress, and making false statements under oath, are federal crimes,” they wrote.
Noem testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3 and to the House Judiciary Committee on March 4. President Donald Trump announced on March 5 that he was removing Noem and would nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., for the Cabinet post.
Still, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson asserted in an email to The Daily Signal Monday, “Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically false.”
Even the two Democrats suggested the referral was symbolic, given that they didn’t expect Bondi to act. However, they implied a possible future Democrat administration could target Noem.
“While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years,” the two Democrats said.