Who Is Corey Lewandowski? Everything To Know About Kristi Noem's Rumored Lover

There are few political rumors as stubborn as the ones linking Corey Lewandowski and Kristi Noem, and they have not gotten any easier to ignore since the scrutiny tied to Lewandowski's DHS contracting. Lewandowski, after all, has spent most of his adult life in the public eye, and the attention has almost never been the kind a politician would choose. Born on September 18, 1973, in Lowell, Massachusetts, Corey Lewandowski has always had his own political aspirations. He graduated from Lowell Catholic High School in 1991, and studied political science at UMass Lowell.

Decades later, he is still signaling that he wants a job with his name on the door. In an October 2025 text to Politico, Lewandowski said, "Governor is the only job in politics I would ever consider giving up what I am currently doing for." What he has been "currently doing" for the better part of a decade is staying attached to Donald Trump. He ran the 2016 campaign, co-wrote "Let Trump Be Trump," and kept finding a way back into the mix even after splits that usually become permanent in politics. Trump has never hidden why. "I just like him. Corey's a character," Trump told New York Magazine in 2024. However, the scandals Corey Lewandowski has been caught up in keep outshining his goals for the future. 

Corey Lewandowski has generally kept his family life out of the spotlight. He's been married to Alison Hardy since 2005 and that they have four children. The two first met in middle school and stayed together through high school and college, before eventually splitting up.

In 1998, Alison married Brian Kinney, whom The Washington Post described as a close friend of Lewandowski. Kinney was killed in the 9/11 attacks while traveling on United Airlines Flight 175, the plane that struck the South Tower. Alison and Kinney had been married for only three years when he died. Later, Alison and Lewandowski found their way back to each other and eventually married. Lewandowski allegedly visits Kinney's grave every Memorial Day, one of the few intimate details he has ever offered publicly. Alison, for her part, has remained almost entirely off-camera. One of the last widely circulated images of the couple together dates to New Year's Eve 2016, when they appeared in a Facebook post at what looked like an anniversary dinner.

Corey Lewandowski's start in politics was far from promising. While studying political science at UMass Lowell, he ran for state representative at 21 years old, but received just seven votes in the general election, according to The Guardian. He had already struggled in the Republican primary just to get that far. The following year, his challenges continued when the Massachusetts secretary of state denied his application to appear on the ballot.

His professional trajectory eventually led him to serve as chief of staff to Ohio Republican Bob Ney, a well-connected member of Congress until his fall from grace. In 2007, Ney pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges. Despite Ney's disgrace, Lewandowski remained fiercely loyal to his former boss, even writing a letter to the judge during Ney's trial. "In that time, I learned more about life, people, politics, friendships and the importance of family than I ever could have imagined. Bob served as a mentor to me, as a surrogate father, and as a best fiiend [sic] all in one," he wrote (via The Daily Beast).

Along the way, Lewandowski earned a master's degree at American University and continued to advance in his political career. "I've been so lucky," he told The Lowell Sun about his journey in politics. "Politics is a tough business, obviously."

Long before Corey Lewandowski became a familiar face in Trump-land, he spent time as a lobbyist in the clean-energy space. At the same time, he was working at Americans for Prosperity. The Koch-backed outfit believes taxpayer money shouldn't be used to underwrite private businesses.

Interestingly, Lewandowski was lobbying Washington to send federal dollars to private clients. He even played a role in winning a $500,000-green-energy earmark for Borrego Solar. In other words, even as he was publicly criticizing subsidy-style support, he was also helping a solar company obtain exactly that kind of assistance.

It went beyond solar, too. Lewandowski was registered to lobby on environmental matters for Pavilion Technologies, a firm that sold emissions-testing equipment. According to AEI, filings show he contacted the EPA and lawmakers in the House and Senate over emissions testing regulations — rules with direct stakes for Pavilion's business. Separately, Passport Systems, which focuses on radiation detection, secured close to $24 million in federal funding during the period Lewandowski was active in that arena, while Logical Images, a healthcare software company, brought in $6.5 million in government contracts.

Corey Lewandowski had never run a presidential campaign when Donald Trump hired him to run one in January 2015. Trump later told The Washington Post, "We hit it off, and if you don't hit it off with your campaign manager, you have a problem." The Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski was making $20,000 a month.

Lewandowski described the role to Frontline in his own way, saying, "I used to liken my role to being a jockey on a great racehorse ... My job was to maybe drive that horse into the corners a little bit and put some blinders on, but you gotta let it run." After Trump won the New Hampshire primary on February 9, 2016, he publicly praised Lewandowski onstage, saying, "So, thank you, Hope and Corey and the entire group, the entire staff. Incredible job" (via C-SPAN).

Unfortunately, in 2016, weeks before the Republican National Convention, Trump fired Lewandowski. When CNN's Dana Bash asked Lewandowski directly why he was fired, he said, "I don't know. I don't know the answer to that." Donald Trump, on the other hand, saw it differently. "I think it's time now for a different kind of a campaign," Trump told Bill O'Reilly on "The O'Reilly Factor" in June 2016.

Talk of Corey Lewandowski and Hope Hicks' rumored romance has circulated for years inside Trump-world, helped along by the fact that they operated in close quarters and rarely seemed far from each other. Lewandowski's job kept him beside Hicks as she rose from 2016 campaign press secretary to White House communications director. The rumor spilled out of the bubble once former Trump aide Sam Nunberg openly alleged in court documents that they were involved.

Then, in May 2016, an argument between Hicks and Lewandowski boiled over in public. One witness told Page Six that Hicks was yelling, "I am done with you!" They further said, "It was ugly, she was doubled over with her fists clenched. He stood there looking shocked with his hands on his head." The chatter resurfaced again with Michael Wolff's 2018 book, "Fire and Fury." Wolff described their dynamic as "on-again-off-again" during the campaign. Hicks eventually took a clear step away from that universe, becoming chief operating officer of Megyn Kelly's Devil May Care Media.

Disturbing news surrounding Corey Lewandowski emerged in March 2016 when Trump's then-campaign manager was charged with battery after a confrontation with Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields at a campaign stop. Florida police later released a video that appeared to back Fields' version of events, showing him grabbing her arm. Fields showed her bruises on Twitter, now X, and sarcastically wrote, "I guess these just magically appeared on me @CLewandowski_ @realDonaldTrump. So weird."

Donald Trump, quick to defend Lewandowski, questioned Fields' claim to reporters, asking, "How did they get there? Who put them there? I don't know that [Lewandowski] put them there" (via Vox). He also suggested the case wasn't worth prosecution, saying, "No jury, in my opinion, would convict a man and destroy a man's life over what you witnessed." Meanwhile, Lewandowski attacked Fields on Twitter by labeling her an "attention seeker."

Despite the strong reactions from both sides, the case was ultimately dropped. Citing insufficient evidence to meet the legal threshold required for prosecution, Florida prosecutors decided not to move forward with the battery charges.

Corey Lewandowski barely had time to clear out his desk as Trump's campaign manager before he had another role. CNN hired him as a political commentator just three days after Trump fired him in June 2016, and put him on air that very day on "OutFront" with Erin Burnett. The odd part was that he was still bound by a Trump campaign non-disclosure agreement, which narrowed what he could realistically say about his former boss.

CNN president Jeff Zucker did not seem troubled by that. "The reason we hired Corey is that now that we are in the general election, I think it's really important to have voices on CNN who are supportive of the Republican nominee," Zucker told Variety. However, Lewandowski's CNN tenure quickly became a magnet for criticism. In an August 2016 segment, Lewandowski resurfaced the long-discredited "birther" storyline about Barack Obama. When Don Lemon asked why he would bring it up, Lewandowski insisted commentator Angela Rye broached the subject. "I just simply said ... 'Did he get in as a U.S. citizen, or was he brought in to Harvard University as a citizen who wasn't from this country?' I don't know the answer!"

It didn't take long for Lewandowski to exit CNN, either. In November 2016, after he was spotted outside Trump Tower, it set off rumors that he might land in the new administration. Lewandowski did not end up with a formal role, but he kept bouncing around conservative media, later joining One America News Network as an on-air commentator. That didn't last, either. OANN fired him after he repeatedly appeared on rival channels, including Fox News.

It did not take Corey Lewandowski long to put a price tag on proximity to power. In December 2016, just weeks after Trump's win, he teamed up with Trump ally Barry Bennett to launch Avenue Strategies, a lobbying and consulting shop. The firm was set up in Washington, D.C., about a block from the White House. Writing on Twitter, now X, Lewandowski announced, "Proud to launch our new venture today to support @realDonaldTrump achieve his agenda in Washington D.C." Essentially, Lewandowski sold his ability to connect companies with the right government contact quickly. By early 2017, Avenue Strategies had already signed contracts totaling $265,000.

In May 2017, the watchdog group Public Citizen alleged that Lewandowski was using his connection to Trump to serve paying clients at home, raising questions about potential obligations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and the Lobbying Disclosure Act. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, said, "Corey Lewandowski and his businesses are soliciting domestic interests and foreign governments, offering to use his close ties to Trump to grease their path into the White House. Most people who do that must register as a lobbyist or foreign agent." Lewandowski stepped down the next day. Trump's former campaign manager told The New York Times that he never registered as a lobbyist. Eight days after leaving Avenue Strategies, he created a new advisory firm in Delaware, Lewandowski Strategic Advisors, LLC, and appoints himself as the firm's CEO and president.

Corey Lewandowski's public image has taken repeated hits over the years, with multiple women accusing him of inappropriate behavior. In 2017, Singer and actor Joy Villa alleged that Lewandowski slapped her buttocks twice at a post-Thanksgiving event at the Trump International Hotel. She told The Guardian the moment felt "disgusting and shocking and demeaning."

Villa said she wrestled with whether to go public because she did not want to bring shame on either his family or her own, but ultimately filed a police complaint, explaining, "If he's not going to respond or apologize to me, I think it's the right thing to do." Lewandowski faced even more damning allegations in 2021, when Trashelle Odom, a major donor to Donald Trump, accused him of inappropriate conduct at a dinner in Las Vegas.

In a statement obtained by The New York Times, Odom said, "He repeatedly touched me inappropriately, said vile and disgusting things to me, stalked me, and made me feel violated and fearful." Odom also said Lewandowski's attorneys tried to buy her silence with a proposed settlement (via CBS). Lewandowski was ultimately charged with misdemeanor battery, and the case ended with a $1,000 fine and a requirement that he apologize to Odom in court.

A 2018 clip ended up defining Corey Lewandowski for a lot of people. During a Fox News panel, Democratic strategist Zac Petkanas recounted the case of a 10-year-old immigrant girl with Down syndrome who had been separated from her mother at the U.S.-Mexico border. Lewandowski interrupted with a dismissive two-word remark, "Womp womp."

Lewandowski later claimed he was not mocking the child but instead criticizing Petkanas for what he saw as the politicization of the story. On CNN, Lewandowski argued important context was being left out, pointing to claims that the mother was allegedly tied to a smuggling case and was not prosecuted solely for illegal entry. He stated, "We have to get past using children as political tools and come up with real solutions." When he was later asked whether he should apologize, he refused. "An apology? I owe an apology to the children whose parents are putting them in a position that is forcing them to be separated" (via The Deadline).

The moment landed during peak backlash to the Trump administration's family separation policy, a deterrence measure that split thousands of children from their parents at the border. The American Immigration Council reported that nearly 3,000 children were forcibly removed from their families during this period.

The Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski rumors broke into wider view in 2021, after American Greatness published allegations of an affair. Furthermore, a source told the New York Post they watched Noem and Lewandowski being "absurdly blatant and public" with affection at CPAC that same year. They further said, "This has been a known, open thing and we've all been waiting for it to blow up at some point." Noem responded with a blunt denial in a tweet she later deleted, calling the rumors "a disgusting lie."

Even after that, the story kept resurfacing as the two never seemed to fully separate professionally. In September 2023, the Daily Mail cited sources claiming Noem was still working with Lewandowski behind the scenes. Axios later reported that Lewandowski had been brought in as a "special government employee" during Noem's tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security. According to The Atlantic, however, the White House blocked Noem from naming him as her chief of staff, with the lingering affair rumor cited as part of the reason.

Meanwhile, photos showing Noem and Lewandowski shopping together in December 2019 emerged as suspicious, too. By April 2025, the two were living in neighboring apartment buildings in Washington, D.C.'s Navy Yard neighborhood. Moreover, a family member told the New York Post that Kristi Noem's husband Bryon Noem, who's also living a double life, felt humiliated by the rumors but believed his faith required him to stay married.

In March 2026, Corey Lewandowski was linked to a Department of Homeland Security probe that raised questions about whether contracting decisions were being treated as something that could be bought while he advised former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

One central allegation involved GEO Group, a private prison company with major federal contracts. Lewandowski is accused of seeking "success fees" tied to securing deals on two separate occasions. GEO founder George Zoley reportedly rejected the request. U.S. House Oversight Democrats has claimed that afterward, GEO's federal business declined, with some facilities left inactive, and they allege Lewandowski urged DHS officials to limit future awards to the company in retaliation.

Other companies, including Salus Worldwide Solutions, have been pulled into the broader set of concerns about how contracts were awarded. House Oversight Democrats alleges that subcontractors working under Salus were steered to route federal funds to consultants connected to Lewandowski, raising questions about whether taxpayer dollars were being directed improperly. Separately, the International Business Times reported that during Noem's tenure, the threshold for DHS contracts requiring secretary approval was lowered from $25 million to $100,000. That change would have put far more contracts under direct secretary sign-off. Lewandowski has denied profiting from any of it, telling NBC News, "Zero, not one penny."