I’ve shied away from commenting on inherently divisive political matters because it is not good for the business model, but I’m making an exception here. As Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers continue to work without full pay, a story of graft and corruption at the Department Homeland Security (DHS) shows priorities that are upside down.
How Family Ties Ended Up Inside A $220 Million DHS Ad Campaign For Kristi Noem
DHS handed out more than $220 million in no-bid contracts for a political-style ad campaign featuring ex DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, a self-aggrandizing scandal in itself, but part of that work ended up benefiting the husband of DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin…who “happened” to approve the contract. Other well-connected political friends of Noem also benefited.
On February 13, 2025, DHS awarded two no-bid contracts for what became the “Stronger Borders, Stronger America” ad campaign. Safe America Media got a $143 million contract. People Who Think got a separate $77 million contract. Same day. Same campaign. More than $220 million in total…for ads like this:
There was an immediate problem with that arrangement. Safe America Media had reportedly been incorporated just seven days before landing the $143 million award. It has no website and its ownership information is not clear.
That alone should have set off alarms, but wait there’s more…
Public Citizen later found FCC sponsorship records listing “Traci McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs” as the DHS official for the campaign sponsor. Contract records also showed that McLaughlin’s office funded the ads.
In November 2025, ProPublica reported that The Strategy Group, the firm run by McLaughlin’s husband Ben Yoho, had worked on at least one of the DHS ads, including the Mount Rushmore spot featuring Noem on horseback. ProPublica also noted that Yoho’s firm had longstanding ties to Noem’s political orbit and continued receiving payments from Noem’s PAC into February 2025, shortly after she arrived at DHS.
By March 3, 2026, under mounting scrutiny, The Strategy Group publicly acknowledged that it had in fact been paid $226,137.17 as a subcontractor on the DHS campaign for five film shoots, 45 video advertisements, and six radio advertisements.
What Noem Acknowledged
During the March 5, 2026 Senate Judiciary oversight hearing, Senator Thom Tillis (R – NC) walked through the relationships. Noem acknowledged that Yoho had run ads for her gubernatorial campaign. She acknowledged that he attended her inauguration. Tillis then stated on the record that Yoho’s company was the subcontractor that got in 11 days after Safe America was founded.
Noem denied that she or other political officials were involved in selecting vendors. DHS and its allies have maintained that nothing illegal or unethical occurred and that McLaughlin was not involved in choosing subcontractors.
That defense does not make the timeline look any better…
DHS used no-bid contracts (justified on “national emergency” grounds) for a massive taxpayer-funded ad campaign featuring its own secretary. One of the prime contractors was brand new. A subcontractor was run by the husband of the department’s top spokeswoman, who appears in FCC records as the DHS official tied to the campaign sponsor and whose office funded the ads.
Then senators demanded records from the companies involved and specifically sought communications with Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and McLaughlin, with Seantors from both sides of the aisle suggesting self-dealing. The impeachment articles against Noem explicitly cited the alleged conflict. McLaughlin resigned soon afterward.
Drain the swamp, you say?
What makes this especially galling is that this scandal is unfolding while TSA officers are going weeks without pay during the DHS shutdown, forcing President Trump to issue an Executive Order just to get airport screeners paid again. Filming for this campaign began during the last full government shutdown in October 2025.
That is the lovely modern swamp in one frame: frontline workers waiting on paychecks while politically connected consultants and subcontractors circle a nine-figure ad deal.
CONCLUSION
Maybe DHS can defend every step of this on paper. Maybe every box was checked and every memo signed.
We. All. See. Through. It.
The timeline still tells the story. A no-bid campaign worth more than $220 million. A prime contractor created days before the award. A subcontractor run by the husband of DHS’s top spokeswoman. A secretary with longstanding ties to the people involved. A resignation once the scrutiny became too intense.
Bottom line, this propaganda money should have gone to pay TSA workers. We are all paying the price and I hope all will be held accountable for every impropriety when it comes to the misappropriation of taxpayer funds.
Travel Related??
Yes, it is. TSA officers have had to skip mortgage payment, student debt payments, and tuition for their kids, etc…while plutocrats enrich themselves from the same pot of money. It is infuriating to me.
I agree with you Matt it definitely is frustrating to see this level of fraud in our goverment.
I don’t vote so I won’t express my opinions on this.
Elect a kleptocrat, expect a kleptocracy.
212 days until midterms. Time to vote better and hold these corrupt mutha’uckas accountable.
Do you really think the other side is not as corrupt as the current one? Cmon.
Would be nice to have more alternatives.
When the federal government has so much money. There will be waste. Various degrees of corruption occur in every administration. None of it can be justified. Dementia has plagued both parties. Just see the last 2 presidential terms. 2020 and 2024.
Bad judgment and narrow minded judgment is an early sign of dementia.
I agree with you here, Derek.
This administration ran on ending government waste
You mean when there is no oversight and accountability there will be waste.
The Democrats holding up TSA funding so illegals can get free healthcare and vote is a separate issue from this issue. I’m very glad Noem is not in charge anymore, but it’s unrelated to the Dems needing to satisfy there insane base by preventing TSA from getting paid.
“The Democrats holding up TSA funding so illegals can get free healthcare and vote”
#fakenews
We have gone over this so many times now, how can people continue to repeat the same lies over and over again?
Because lots of people are stupid. Hopefully many of these gfiters will be imprisoned in a few years.
I congratulated our Trump supporters the morning after the election. Is it so difficult to continue to support a conversation about the TSA without making it bad for Matthew’s business? Please don’t leave now. He was there for you and I pray you can give us your thoughts
Obviously this is despicable, but it’s true that this isn’t uncommon. It’s pretty well known that every decision made and every contract issued by the Miami Airport authority is done based on who the money is going to or coming from. Part of the reason that public transportation in the US is so atrocious is because of the corruption in all the layers of local government that have to be cut through to build meaningful infrastructure. The Silver Line should have been complete decades ago.
$220M is especially egregious, Noem was rightfully fired. But how do we change this? Those with the power to bring it to an end are also the very ones benefiting from it. Elections should theoretically fix the problem, but they don’t in America.
It leads politicians and policies like in El Salvador…where Bukele has no respect for civil liberties, but has certainly cut down on corruption and crime and earned widespread support. That day may be coming for us, even after Trump. It’s scary.
How do we change this?
Elect a crusader as President. Someone like AOC, Elizabeth Warren, or (if he wasn’t so old) Bernie Sanders. You won’t always agree with their politics but you can be damn sure that their policies will benefit the country as a whole.
I voted for Warren in the 2020 primary!
Hopefully we’ll see a new generation of pols who care about voters and not donors. As a Texas voter, I’m excited about Talarico, but he’s got an uphill battle.
Crooked as crooked gets. But nothing will happen, it never does for either party. All talk and bluster that never results in charges and convictions.
But damn, Trish and her husband are both hot, I’d love to be the meat in the middle of that sandwich. Takes me back to my Colt Studios days, Oh to be young again.
“I’ve shied away from commenting on inherently divisive political matters because it is not good for the business model”
no, Matt, just no.
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower –
“A nation which makes the final sacrifice for life and freedom does not get beaten” – Mustafa K. Atatürk –
A very true statement… Atatürk was a genuine genius. Sadly, he passed away at a young age (57).
He’d be turning in his grave if he could see what’s become of his Türkiye.
This TSA fiasco is clearly spelled out in Project 2025 plan. I suggest anyone wondering wtf is happening in the USA actually take a look at this treasonous blueprint. It’s all spelled out clearly and it is well underway. Destroy and privatize everything- aka the Rethuglican wet dream.
This kind of thing is pretty common in other Third World countries as well.
A tale as old as time. ANYONE who thinks, “But my team doesn’t do this!” is blinded by their own political biases.