WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating former Trump aide Corey Lewandowski over allegations that he profited from his senior role at the Department of Homeland Security, The Post has confirmed.

Lewandowski, who served as President Trump’s first campaign manager during the 2016 election, came under scrutiny after a watchdog referred a complaint alleging that he abused his position at DHS during Trump’s second term.

The DHS Office of Inspector General launched a probe earlier this year into claims that Lewandowski benefited from the awarding of federal contracts while working as a top adviser to then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

In March, the inspector general’s office directed DHS employees to preserve records tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. The records included no-bid agreements connected to a $220 million advertising campaign featuring Noem, three sources familiar with the matter previously told The Post.

The review also covered alleged efforts to solicit foreign officials and dealings involving The GEO Group, which operates private prisons.

Investigators were additionally examining “pay to play visa schemes” that had raised internal “concerns” at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a DHS agency, according to a fourth person familiar with the investigation.

The referral was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. A representative for Lewandowski denied the allegations, saying his client “has not been contacted by the Justice Department regarding any investigation, and he denies any wrongdoing when he was proudly serving his country in a voluntary capacity.”

Lewandowski described himself as an “unpaid volunteer” for the Trump White House. He and Noem were removed from their DHS roles in March after the Cabinet officials faced damaging testimony before the House and Senate over the advertising campaign.

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During her congressional appearance, Noem also struggled to respond to questions about whether she and Lewandowski had been romantically involved.

After leaving DHS on March 5, Noem became a special envoy and senior adviser at the State Department. Lewandowski departed DHS several weeks later and left government service altogether.

Lewandowski’s appointment as a special government employee was limited to 130 days per calendar year. However, he allegedly extended his time at DHS by avoiding the usual badge-swipe process and entering the agency’s headquarters as part of Noem’s motorcade.

Sources previously told The Post that Lewandowski spent a night with Noem at her government-provided residence — the Coast Guard commandant’s house on a Washington military base, where the former DHS secretary stayed for security reasons.

Lewandowski has also rejected reports that he acted with apparent impunity because he believed Trump would pardon him if he faced prosecution. One Post source previously quoted the former Trump official as saying: “I’m not worried. I do whatever the f–k I want. DJT will pardon me.”

Trump responded to the report Thursday, saying: “All I know is I want my people to be honest, and if they’re not going to be honest, they have to be prosecuted.”

“I view it as if people are not honest, they’re stealing from me as president, they’re stealing from me. So I want my people to be honest, and if they’re not honest, I’ll have my DOJ go and do whatever they have to do,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

During their time at DHS, Noem and Lewandowski instructed subordinates not to approve contracts, grants or other funding decisions worth more than $100,000 without their final authorization.

In some instances, those directives delayed the release of federal disaster-relief money as well as funding for sections of the border wall.

A video from college reportedly shows Iowa Republican congressional candidate Joe Mitchell discussing his genital size, challenging Black friends to a comparison and making a series of rambling comments about Black women.

Mitchell, 29, is seeking the Republican nomination in Iowa’s closely contested 2nd District. His campaign has received endorsements from President Donald Trump and Turning Point Action.

The footage, obtained by the Daily Mail, was recorded while Mitchell was a student at Drake University. In it, he complains about the size of his “d***” and discusses “Black women,” including saying he wanted to “f*** J*****e,” a Black woman he reportedly had a crush on at the time.

“I want to marry one,” Mitchell says in the video while discussing Black women.

The Daily Mail said the video was supplied by a woman who knew Mitchell in college but was not present when it was recorded. She dated the incident to 2017, when Mitchell was 19, and said she has not remained in contact with him since college.

At another point, Mitchell says he wants his future children “to not be white” because he does not like “f***ing white people,” before asking, “Why do you think I hang out with people that aren’t white?”

The footage also shows Mitchell challenging people around him to a contest focused on their manhood.

“Let’s f***ing measure them. Prove it to me. Prove it to me right now,” he says, repeatedly shouting, “Forfeit! Forfeit! Forfeit!”

“You guys are the racist ones,” Mitchell says while standing near a wall placard featuring Bernie Sanders, who was then a Democrat and is now an independent senator.

An attorney for the Mitchell campaign did not challenge the video’s authenticity. Instead, the attorney accused Mitchell’s “political foes” of attempting to damage his campaign.

Two Snapchat screenshots provided to the Daily Mail also appear to show Mitchell discussing alleged alcohol violations from his college years.

In one post, Mitchell reportedly shared a selfie claiming he had received “2 alcohol violations in a week.”

In another screenshot, he wrote that he was “taking lots of xanx tonight,” adding, “and no one will stop me.”

The Daily Mail provided the video and Snapchat screenshots to the Mitchell campaign for comment.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Mitchell said he has “grown up” since the video and posts were made.

“My entire generation has had a camera in their face since we were born. I was 19, in college, and I have grown up,” Mitchell said.

“Since graduating college, I found some better friends, launched my own small business, launched a nonprofit, and built countless affordable homes all over Northeast Iowa. I achieved the American Dream, and I’m running for Congress so every American can reach their full potential.”

An Iowa Democratic operative, who was friends with Mitchell in college, told the Daily Mail that the candidate hasn’t ‘drunk or dated in a while because he has been so focused on the campaign.’

The woman who provided the Daily Mail with the videos, a school friend who has not spoken to Mitchell since college, said she expected him to blame the alcohol.

‘We are all drunk and young once, but that doesn’t make us any less accountable for our words,’ she said.

She told the Daily Mail she came forward because voters deserve ‘the full picture’ of who they are electing. 

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Polling in the district, typically considered slightly favorable to Republicans, has shown a neck-and-neck race between Mitchell and his Democratic opponent, Lindsay James.

The House Majority PAC, aligned with congressional Democrats, noted in August that in an initial head-to-head matchup, James led Mitchell 46 percent to 45 percent.

A second source, a male who also knew Mitchell at the time the video was taken, believes the statements were indicative of his views then.

The male source also revealed that Mitchell, on numerous occasions, claimed that he ‘did not want white children, he frequently lamented that’ and asked other people who were in the room when the 2017 videos were taken to ‘hook him up with black women.’

Mitchell was ‘insane, he was a clown… he was basically known for being a ridiculous person,’ said the source who hasn’t spoken to Mitchell since college. 

An attorney for his campaign rejected ‘false accusations’ that he was known for being ‘ridiculous.’ 

Mitchell’s campaign provided the Daily Mail an image of him with Trump in 2015.

‘Joe was a Republican and has always been a Republican. Joe has always been a strong Trump supporter, and those facts became too uncomfortable with Democrats in his social group when he got elected,’ Andrew Turner, a former Iowa Democratic operative, told the Daily Mail.

‘Now they want to see him fail and are pushing this garbage because it would hurt them too much to confront the fact they were always friends with a Trump supporter who never changed in how he treated them as a friend. They all loved him,’ Turner added.

A second woman, who said a couple of her friends dated Mitchell in college, also said the behavior portrayed in the video is ‘consistent with his behavior’ at the time, though she admitted she no longer knew him.

Eric Branstad, a longtime Republican political operative in Iowa and son of the Hawkeye State’s former governor, Terry Branstad, came to Mitchell’s defense.

‘These people sending this kind of stuff are jealous of success, and of how hard he works,’ Branstad told the Daily Mail.

‘Joe is as clean as they come, as far as any drugs or alcohol or partying. We were all in college once, and I’m sure we had some good and bad nights,’ Branstad added.

Mitchell became the youngest-ever state lawmaker when he was elected in 2018 at the age of 20 while still at Drake University. 

He founded Run GenZ, a national 501(c)4) nonprofit organization aimed at recruiting young conservatives to run for office.

While leading the group, Mitchell partnered with powerhouse conservative organizations such as Turning Point USA and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

He’s also been a Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, and briefly served in two roles in the second Trump administration, including the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Great Plains regional administrator. 

Outside of politics, Mitchell also runs a real estate development firm.

The Cook Political Report categorizes it as a ‘toss-up’ race. Mitchell’s district, rated to have a R+4 partisan voter index, would typically not draw much national interest. 

However, in a cycle such as this year, the president’s policies are alienating voters even in critical swing states like Iowa that have voted for Trump three times.

Democrats see a fighting chance in the key Heartland state, where the cost of living has risen due to the war in Iran and rising diesel prices are hitting this fall, as early voting coincides with harvest season.

An Emmy-winning North Carolina television news producer accused of stalking his former wife allegedly entered her home through a second-story bathroom window, monitored her movements and repeatedly drove near the property before she sought a domestic violence protective order.

Randall Saunders Kerr, 55, was arrested Oct. 20 and charged with felony stalking and misdemeanor violation of a domestic violence protective order. Authorities allege he drove near the home of his former wife, longtime WRAL anchor Lynda Loveland, several times a day.

Court records obtained by News Media, including an arrest warrant and a complaint filed in December 2025, describe months of alleged harassment that Loveland said caused her to fear for her safety.

“I’m scared I’m going to wake up one night and see him standing there in my room,” Loveland wrote in the complaint.

According to the October arrest warrant, Kerr drove within 300 yards of Loveland’s home “multiple times daily” from Oct. 13 through Oct. 18, including on a street behind the property.

Loveland filed for protection in Wake County District Court on Dec. 19, 2025. She accused Kerr of tracking her movements, contacting her despite her wishes and repeatedly showing up near her home after their separation.

In a timeline submitted with the complaint, Loveland alleged that Kerr searched her personal belongings, monitored her text messages and emails and used shared technology to track her whereabouts.

She also alleged that Kerr sent up to 30 unwanted text messages each day after leaving their home in August 2025.

Loveland said she discovered an upstairs bathroom window open in October 2025. When she later confronted Kerr, he allegedly acknowledged using a ladder to enter through the second-story window, saying he needed to use the bathroom.

She said she changed the locks, routinely checked the doors and windows and eventually bought pepper spray because she was afraid Kerr might get inside the house.

A Wake County judge issued Loveland an emergency domestic violence protective order on Dec. 19, 2025. The order prohibited Kerr from contacting or harassing her and required him to remain at least 300 yards away.

The court later entered a consent protective order on Jan. 27, 2026, signed by both parties and approved by District Court Judge Rhonda Young.

The consent order barred Kerr from contacting Loveland and generally required him to stay at least 300 yards from her, with a limited exception for events involving their adult children. It also prohibited him from possessing or buying firearms.

The consent order did not include findings of fact or conclusions of law regarding the allegations underlying the case.

Separate divorce records obtained by News Media show that Kerr and Loveland’s marriage was formally dissolved on Oct. 9, four days before the alleged stalking incidents began.

The couple married in April 2001 and separated in August 2025 after more than 20 years together. Court records show they have three adult children.

Loveland filed for divorce in August 2026, seeking to end the marriage after more than a year of separation and to resume using her maiden name, Lynda Lee Loveland.

Separate court records show the former couple had also been involved in a dispute over their marital home, with Kerr claiming in December 2025 that Loveland changed the locks after he moved out.

The two later reached an agreement over the division of marital property, with a Wake County judge approving a consent order in August 2026.

Kerr is a longtime investigative producer at Raleigh-based WRAL and was among three station employees honored with a regional Emmy Award in 2016 for a report titled “Swatting,” Capitol Broadcasting, the station’s parent company, announced at the time.

Following his arrest, a Wake County magistrate initially ordered Kerr held without release under North Carolina’s domestic violence pretrial release law.

A separate order issued Oct. 21 barred him from contacting Loveland and required him to comply with the existing protective order.

The order also prohibited Kerr from coming within 100 yards of the alleged victim or locations covered by the restrictions.

Kerr remains listed as being held without bond on a felony stalking charge, Wake County jail records reviewed by News Media show.

He is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 6.

WRAL previously reported on Kerr’s arrest and the protective order obtained by his former wife. News Media reached out to the station for additional comment on Kerr’s current employment status but did not receive a response.

An attorney who represented Loveland in her divorce proceedings was also contacted for comment, while an attorney representing Kerr in the criminal case could not immediately be identified.

The MTA is suspending its EAGLE bus fare-enforcement teams after inspectors allegedly roughed up passengers in several disturbing incidents that were not reported promptly. Officials also acknowledged that the teams have failed to reduce fare evasion.

Transit chief Janno Lieber announced the move as the rate of bus fare evasion climbed from 36% in 2022 to 48% during the first half of 2026, despite the teams’ presence.

The suspension came one day after Kyle Taylor, a Brooklyn school dean, filed a $25 million lawsuit against the MTA. Taylor says EAGLE inspectors assaulted him earlier this month over an alleged failure to pay the $3 bus fare. The encounter was captured on video.

Passenger advocacy groups have condemned the incident. Lieber said the violence was never reported to his office.

He also said a separate harassment complaint involving MTA fare inspectors and a man aboard a Bronx bus was not escalated through the agency’s chain of command.

“I was not happy that leadership of the MTA and even New York City Transit didn’t even hear about that episode until more than a week afterwards,” Lieber said. “It now appears that there is another episode where that failure to timely report is even more extreme.”

Taylor’s attorney, Benjamin Pinczewski, rejected the explanation.

“How could they not have known about it? The MTA tried to cover this up,” he told The Post.

Lieber said he directed MTA security chief Michael Kemper, a 30-year NYPD veteran, to conduct a broad review of the program. The inquiry will examine how EAGLE inspectors are trained and how the roughly 350-member force reports incidents.

While announcing the EAGLE suspension late Thursday, Lieber also urged riders to pay their fares.

“We have to play by the rules or they start to fall apart,” he said.

EAGLE teams have inspected fares on Select Bus Service routes since 2008 and expanded their operations to local buses in 2023. Bus fare evasion nevertheless increased from 36% in 2022 to 43% in 2023, reaching 48% in the first half of 2026.

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MTA data puts the subway fare-evasion rate at about 10%.

The transit agency has said paid bus boardings rise by 7% when EAGLE teams are deployed.

Fare evasion on buses cost the MTA an estimated $568 million in 2024, the latest available figure, according to fiscal watchdog Citizens Budget Commission.

Lee, 30, of Manhattan, said he believes the fare-enforcement teams do not work.

“[They’re like] ‘Hey, can you show me your card?’ and I’m like ‘No, I can’t actually show you anything,’ and I just walk past them,” he said.

Lee described the teams as “a waste of money” and said he was pleased they had been removed, at least temporarily.

Stella Nathenson, 19, an NYU student who rides buses around Manhattan, called the teams “scary” and “unsettling.” She said many of the people she sees skipping fares are older adults.

“When people don’t pay the fare, half the time it’s usually a person with a walker or a cane,” she said.

She said broken card readers have kept her from paying.

“I have avoided paying twice, and it’s just because the card doesn’t work — which is probably something they should fix,” she said.

Bus rider Jaime Madrid, 75, of Manhattan said an EAGLE team wrongly ticketed him two years ago on the M34-SBS, and he had to send in his yellow card and bus number to get it tossed.

“They embarrass you,” he said. “They pull you out like a criminal. They pull on you and put you in the street.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani ran on on a campaign promise of making city buses free, but the state-controlled MTA is mostly out of his hands, and he admitted in April that it wouldn’t happen this year.

A New York City real estate agent allegedly sent a racially offensive message about a couple seeking to rent an apartment—unaware that one of the prospective tenants had been included in the text exchange.

Lisa Renee Olaso and her fiancé, Cyril Christopher, have since filed a lawsuit against broker Helen Tzelios, Douglas Elliman Realty and several people identified as owners of the property.

According to court records obtained by the Daily Mail, the alleged discrimination occurred before the couple had even entered the Queens apartment they were scheduled to view.

The message reportedly read, “Ugh they are black,” after Tzelios allegedly saw the couple arriving for the viewing in Flushing.

Olaso and Christopher had moved from Delaware in June after she accepted a new job. The couple was looking forward to settling into an apartment on 26th Avenue.

They had arranged to meet a Douglas Elliman representative at the building, but the lawsuit claims the agent spotted them from afar and sent the text before speaking with them.

Olaso was allegedly copied into the conversation by mistake, despite the message reportedly being intended for the property owner.

“As we were getting out of the car, I received the text message that said, ‘Ugh they are black,’” Olaso said during a press conference.

Shocked by the message, Olaso said she immediately urged Christopher to return to their vehicle.

She then confronted Tzelios, who allegedly offered an explanation involving Black tenants who had previously lived in the area.

“When she looked at her phone, she started to explain that there were previous Black tenants in the neighborhood and that they had caused a lot of trouble,” Olaso said.

The couple has brought legal action against Douglas Elliman, Tzelios and multiple individuals listed in property ownership records.

Their lawyer, Kenneth Mollins, said the exchange could point to possible involvement beyond the agent herself.

Mollins argued that the wording appeared to assume the intended recipient would understand why the couple’s race was relevant.

“The person receiving the text would have to get it in some context to know why she’s sending that. So, we believe the homeowner was in some way responsible here,” Mollins said.

Douglas Elliman confirmed that Tzelios no longer works for the company and said it rejects discrimination in all forms.

“Douglas Elliman has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind. The agent is no longer with the company,” the firm said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

However, such discrimination may result in significant consequences. The Fair Housing Act imposes serious civil penalties on realtors, including federal lawsuits and license suspension. 

The act prevents discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, or familial status. 

Christopher said the experience was particularly painful because the agent appeared to have judged them without knowing anything about who they were.

‘It’s like judging a book by its cover. You haven’t even read the book, and you already made a judgement call,’ he said.

Olaso said Tzelios tried to apologize, but said the damage had already been done.

‘It doesn’t change the pain. It doesn’t take away the pain that you caused us that day,’ she added.

The Daily Mail reached out to Tzelios for comment but did not immediately hear back. 

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has thrown his support behind Seth Bodnar, the independent candidate in Montana’s Senate race, rather than the Democratic nominee, Bodnar’s campaign said Friday.

Buttigieg, who is viewed as a possible 2028 presidential contender, praised Bodnar’s record of public service in a statement. “The strongest leaders I’ve worked alongside, in uniform and in government, focus on completing the mission rather than claiming the credit—and Seth is that kind of leader,” he said. Buttigieg noted that the two do not agree on every issue but said Bodnar has devoted his adult life to serving the country and future generations, first as an Army Green Beret and later at the University of Montana. “He will bring that same character to the Senate for all Montanans,” Buttigieg said.

Bodnar said he was “honored to have Secretary Buttigieg’s support” and welcomed the backing of voters and figures from across the political spectrum.

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Bodnar, 47, has pledged that he would remain independent in the Senate rather than align himself with either the Democratic or Republican caucus. A retired Army Green Beret, he graduated first in his class at West Point, became a Rhodes scholar and recently served as president of the University of Montana. He is competing against Democratic nominee Alani Bankhead and Republican nominee Kurt Alme.

The Montana Senate contest is unfolding in a state that has strongly favored Republicans in recent elections. Still, Bodnar’s profile and message—centered on political independence, lowering costs and confronting corruption—appear to be attracting support. Some Montana Democrats have urged Bankhead to leave the race, arguing that doing so would improve Bodnar’s chances against Alme. With both candidates remaining on the ballot, however, voters opposed to the Republican nominee could divide their support.

The Senate opening emerged after Republican Sen. Steve Daines unexpectedly announced that he would not seek reelection, doing so shortly before Montana’s March filing deadline.

President Trump traveled to Montana last week for a rally aimed at boosting turnout for Alme and congressional candidate Aaron Flint. Vice President JD Vance is expected to campaign in the state with a rally next week.