DOJ probing Trump ally Corey Lewandowski’s actions at DHS after inspector general referral: Sources
Corey Lewandowski, American political operative and former campaign manager for Donald Trump, is seen during the CPAC Poland 2025 conference. (Sopa Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Justice Department prosecutors are investigating the Department of Homeland Security’s contracting activities in the first year of the second Trump administration and scrutinizing Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump ally who served as ousted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s top aide, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The investigation is in its early stages, sources said, and followed a referral to the department regarding Lewandowski’s conduct from DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.
“Mr. Lewandowski 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,” said Adam Trigg, an attorney for Lewandowski in a statement provided to ABC News.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
The probe marks a rare instance of Trump’s Justice Department examining conduct of an ally of the president.
When asked by reporters Thursday about the probe into Lewandowski, President Donald Trump said he did not know about the specifics of the investigation.
“All I know is I want my people to be honest,” Trump said. “And if they’re not gonna be honest they have to be prosecuted. I don’t know about specifically, but — because I view if people are not honest they’re stealing from me.”
Lewandowski served as a special government employee during Noem’s tenure effectively acting as her chief of staff as the department came under scrutiny for its controversial spending practices through costly government contracts.
Noem and Lewandowski were ousted in March following a congressional hearing where Noem claimed President Trump knew of her decision to launch a $220 million digital ad campaign for the department with videos that featured her prominently.
Both have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the DOJ’s probe of Lewandowski.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier departs Laem Chabang Port, September 6, 2026 in Si Racha, Thailand. (Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Eight U.S. Navy personnel attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group have attempted suicide since the start of their extended deployment tied to the war in Iran, according to a letter ABC News obtained from Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
In the letter, sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cao says that there have been eight suicide attempts since the USS Lincoln’s deployment began around 10 months ago.
“Since the beginning of LINCOLN’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the LINCOLN crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to questions from Gillibrand about the health and well-being of the personnel aboard the fleet.
The letter was first reported by CNN.
A Navy official told ABC News that while they treat every attempted suicide case very seriously, they maintain the number is not out of the norm for a long deployment.
Throughout the deployment, the Lincoln had between 2,500 and 2,800 sailors aboard, according to Cao’s letter. Eight attempts among that population of sailors appear to be roughly consistent with Navy records for suicide attempts in the broader Navy ranks.
The Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts in 2024, that last year of publicly available data. Over three years, the figure represents a nearly 50% increase in attempted suicides, according to Navy records.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have dismissed reports of poor conditions and mental health issues aboard the USS Lincoln. Cao confirmed that a sailor went overboard in early August from the Lincoln and was quickly recovered.
In his letter, Cao confirmed a piping issue aboard the USS Lincoln and that meal options were reduced from two to one during periods of higher-tempo operations, but that both issues were resolved.
Despite the USS Lincolns’ record-long deployment, Trump said in August that the vessel hasn’t been deployed for “nearly long enough.” Hegseth in August pushed back on reports of a sailor going overboard from the Lincoln and accounts of sailors struggling through an unusually long deployment have been “completely misrepresented.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an August social media post that “the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health” among the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers. Cooper also acknowledged in the post that it “doesn’t mean that all is perfect” and that a long deployment at sea “is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.”
In a statement to ABC News, Gillibrand said Trump and Hegseth dismissed concerns that “turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members.” Gillibrand called the treatment of service members under the Trump administration “completely unacceptable.”
The ship was slated for a normal six-month deployment to the Pacific but had been extended on an unusually long deployment due to the war with Iran, where it was redirected earlier this year.
The president initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
The Lincoln Strike group left the Middle East late last month — replaced by the USS George Washington — and is en route to its home port in California. The ship docked in Thailand earlier this month with a record 286 days at sea.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ABC News’ Chris Boccia contributed to this report.
Crews from the United States Coast Guard seize the Jaria Provider in the Caribbean Sea on June 28, 2026. (Obtained by ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Friday the seizure of two ships bound for Cuba that were illegally carrying thousands of gallons of diesel fuel amid the ongoing fuel blockade to the country imposed by President Donald Trump.
The Grace, a 300-foot tanker, was seized on Sept. 5 by the Coast Guard and Mexican authorities in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and Mexico, after it was alleged to use covert operations to traverse the high seas, according to Coast Guard officials. Another ship, carrying 200,000 gallons of fuel, was seized by the Coast Guard in June.
The ships’ seizures came amid the Trump administration’s fuel blockade on Cuba. That move, aimed at trying to force changes to Cuba’s political system, has led to a power crisis in Cuba, marked by prolonged power outages impacting water supply, lighting, refrigeration and communications, according to U.S. officials.
The Grace was brought to Progreso, Mexico, “where a Mexican Navy (MARINA) inspection team confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks,” according to a news release from the Coast Guard.
Video first obtained by ABC News shows Coast Guard agents equipped in tactical gear boarding the ship, guns drawn, while a separate Coast Guard boat goes alongside of it.
The Coast Guard also announced the seizure of another Cuba-bound ship, the “Jaira Provider,” which they say was carrying more than 200,000 gallons of fuel when it was seized on June 28.
The Coast Guard said that the fuel in the Jaria Provider was also stored in ballast tanks, which are typically used to hold water or air to control the ship’s buoyancy.
“The high seas are not a sanctuary for lawlessness,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. “Dark fleet actors who employ deceptive tactics to engage in illicit activities will not evade justice. The Coast Guard is bringing every capability to bear to interdict these vessels and uphold international law.”
Darline Graham Nordone speaks during a press conference outside the Governor’s South Carolina State House office on July 13, 2026 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister, was officially sworn in to the Senate on Tuesday afternoon to finish the remainder of her late brother’s term.
Republican Chuck Grassley, the president pro tempore of the Senate, presided over the ceremony.
Darline Graham was escorted by fellow South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, both Republicans, as she approached to dais to take the oath of office. The chamber, filled with a number of Democratic and Republican senators, applauded after she was sworn in.
Lindsey Graham, a four-term Republican senator, died over the weekend at the age of 71. Darline Graham will serve out the remaining months of his current term, which expires in January.
Darline Graham was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday. President Donald Trump supported her appointment, calling it a fabulous tribute” to Lindsey Graham, who at a young age became Darline Graham’s legal guardian after the deaths of their parents.
“Lindsey has always been there for me. And now I will be there for him,” Darline Graham said on Monday.
Who is Darline Graham?
Darline Graham, who lives in Lexington, South Carolina, has served since 2019 as commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, according to a biography provided by Gov. McMaster’s office on Monday. She also serves on the South Carolina State Workforce Development Board and is president-elect of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind.
She also previously held roles with Clemson University, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce and the South Carolina Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, the governor’s office said.
Darline Graham, a mother of two, earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston, a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and is a certified public manager, according to the release.
After their parents died when Lindsey Graham was 22 years old, he took on a caretaker role for Darline Graham, then 13, and became her legal guardian. Talking to C-SPAN in 2015, Lindsey Graham said his sister’s success was “the highlight” of his life “by far.”
Their close relationship was evident throughout Lindsey Graham’s political career. Darline Graham appeared with him several times on the campaign trail and in campaign videos.
“It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina and the United States,” she said on Monday.
