A new report suggests Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem supplemented her income while serving as South Dakota governor.
The report, published Monday by investigative journalism nonprofit ProPublica, said Noem secretly received $80,000 dollars from a "dark money" group in 2023.
The money came from a nonprofit that promotes Noem called the American Resolve Policy Fund. Its tax filing shows it paid an $80,000 fundraising fee to Noem’s personal company. That company was registered in Delaware minutes before the American Resolve nonprofit was incorporated there. American Resolve noted the fee was payment for Noem bringing in $800,000.
Noem did not include this payment in the disclosure form she released after President Trump selected her as DHS Secretary. That disclosure noted the existence of the company, but said Noem did not receive income from it.
The ProPublica report said while it’s normal for politicians to raise money for nonprofits that support them, it is unusual for them to keep some of that money for themselves. It also raised other questions about the American Resolve nonprofit.
"Since the nonprofit is a so-called dark money group — one that’s not required to disclose the names of its donors — the original source of the money remains unknown," the report said, while also noting it's unclear what the bulk of its money was spent on.
Noem’s attorney Trevor Stanley issued a statement saying Noem “fully complied” with federal disclosure laws and was approved by the Office of Government Ethics.