During last year’s government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security hired a little-known advertising agency to create Kristi Noem’s multimillion-dollar ad campaign. But Noem was nearly speechless when asked to explain her reasoning at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, noted in reading the Department of Homeland Security notice that the department had identified only four companies “out of hundreds of thousands of companies in the United States” as potential employees for the campaign.
“One of them is Safe America Media. Where is Safe America Media’s headquarters?” ask Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse.
“I don’t know,” Norm replied.
The Department of Homeland Security paid Safe America Media a $143 million no-bid contract between February and August 2025 to produce a series of anti-immigrant ads for ICE Barbie. A few months later, Puplica Safe America Media, which was reportedly founded only eight days before winning the Department of Homeland Security contract, is unlikely to handle a nine-figure government contract.
However, subcontractors are not required to be disclosed in federal contract databases, effectively allowing vast sums of taxpayer money to disappear into an untraceable dark money web. Exactly where and to whom Safe America Media doled out the millions remains unclear, despite revelations from the consulting firm behind a video Noem posted in late 2025.
Money from Noem’s agency went directly into the pockets of her friends and allies in the Strategic Group, a group with ties to the former South Dakota governor, including the CEO who once employed her alleged lover (Corey Lewandowski), as well as Noem’s former chief spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, Safe American Media has no website, no experience, and no quiet contract. The only substantial evidence that the company actually exists is that it shares an address with a property owned by veteran Republican operative Michael McElwain.
“Is there a problem with this contract?” the secretary said slowly.
“Do you want the American people to believe that this was all above board and that $143 million in taxpayer dollars just happened to go to this company that has no headquarters, no website, has never worked for the federal government before, and is clearly registered or affiliated with the residence of a political operative, and of course, as you know, one of the subcontractors on this contract is a political firm that has ties to you dating back to when you were the governor of South Dakota?” Negus pressed. “The reason I’m asking these questions is because it’s taxpayer money.
“The facts will eventually come to light.”
