Public Citizen: DHS Assistant Secretary’s Husband Benefited from a Multi-Million-Dollar DHS Advertising Contract: The Ad Campaign included Kristi Noem in an Anti-Immigrant Propaganda Video
Press release from Public Citizen
Tricia McLaughlin, chief spokesperson for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "Secretary Kristi Noem, is named in documents obtained by Public Citizen as the point person for a $220 million DHS anti-immigration advertising buy that, in part, went to her husband’s company."
“This is a stunning example of a self-serving public official. Having a top government official in any way connected to a multi-million dollar contract that their spouse’s company benefits from is an abuse of taxpayer money and a breach of the public trust,” said Public Citizen Democracy Advocate Jon Golinger.
In November, a ProPublica story revealed that The Strategy Group, an advertising agency run by McLaughlin’s husband CEO Ben Yoho, worked on one of the Noem ads filmed at Mount Rushmore. A series of photos on the official DHS Flickr account document the Mount Rushmore ad shoot in October 2025.
