{"id":4857,"date":"2026-03-12T14:15:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/firm-at-center-of-200m-contract-that-led-to-noem-ouster-tied-to-two-top-officials\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T14:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:15:19","slug":"firm-at-center-of-200m-contract-that-led-to-noem-ouster-tied-to-two-top-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/firm-at-center-of-200m-contract-that-led-to-noem-ouster-tied-to-two-top-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"Firm At Center Of $200M Contract That Led To Noem Ouster Tied To Two Top Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The former Trump administration official who is centering a congressional campaign around her work for the ousted Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is employing the firm at the center of a scandal-plagued $200 million contract, which is run by the husband of another one of Noem\u2019s top confidants.<\/p>\n

Madison Sheahan, a junior political aide from Noem\u2019s time as South Dakota governor who was installed as deputy director of ICE, is now running for Congress in Ohio\u2013while living with her parents\u2013as the woman who oversaw \u201cstrategy and execution in support of border security\u201d for the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Doing work on her campaign is the Strategy Group, CEO Ben Yoho told The Daily Wire. Yoho is married to\u00a0Tricia McLaughlin, who The Daily Wire has learned was closely involved in the procurement process that led to her husband profiting off of a $200 million ad campaign.<\/p>\n

A current DHS official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Daily Wire that McLaughlin, the former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, had significant involvement in the procurement process, and is on emails about the vendor selection. That information is contrary to Noem\u2019s testimony to Congress, when she said that the contract \u201cwent out to a competitive bid and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noem was fired last week, in part over her handling of the $200 million ad campaign. She will leave her DHS post at the end of March.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin acknowledged to The Daily Wire that she was part of a group of officials that heard presentations from each company that was considered for the work in February 2025. One of the successful firms later subcontracted to McLaughlin\u2019s husband\u2019s company, though they didn\u2019t marry until August.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said DHS has no control over who a firm subcontracts with, and that she recused herself from any involvement after learning that it had subcontracted with her husband.<\/p>\n

The admission by McLaughlin means that both portions of Noem\u2019s testimony\u2013that the contracts were competed and were chosen by career officials\u2013were misleading. The Daily Wire previously reported that only three firms \u2013 approached by DHS in advance \u2013 were allowed<\/a> to bid. DHS said it selected them by reviewing \u201cwebsites\u201d and \u201cindustry publications,\u201d even though such reviews would have brought up little information about the firms, all of which were politically connected.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin told The Daily Wire that the companies made pitches to \u201cme and a group of officials.\u201d A justification for departing from the practice of open bidding is signed by four people whose names are redacted. One, with the title \u201cProgram Office Representative,\u201d might contain her signature, she said, since the ads fell under her department.<\/p>\n

Two of the three companies received contracts. Safe America Media LLC, which was incorporated just days earlier, wound up subcontracting production work to the Strategy Group, McLaughlin\u2019s husband\u2019s firm. Strategy Group had also done Noem\u2019s media as governor, after, Bloomberg<\/a> reported, the firm was introduced to Noem by Corey Lewandowski, her top aide at DHS and rumored affair partner<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said Safe America Media LLC was one of three that DHS asked to bid because the group of DHS officials knew it was run by Patrick McCarthy and Mike McElwain, who \u201care some of the best in the business, they\u2019ve had a storied, illustrious career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just one of the people involved,\u201d she told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n

The second firm was People Who Think LLC, which had overlapped with Noem aides through a previous campaign in Louisiana for Gov. Jeff Landry. Lewandowski worked for the campaign, and Strategy Group ran ads<\/a> for a PAC supporting his bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople Who Think is a storied company. These people all went through presentations,\u201d McLaughlin said. McLaughlin sent a statement from DHS General Counsel James Percival calling allegations against her baseless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have personally reviewed the allegations against Ms. McLaughlin, and I find them to be baseless,\u201d Percival said. \u201cNothing illegal or unethical occurred with respect to these contracts. Ms. McLaughlin was not involved in selecting any subcontractors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheahan also previously worked for Landry. The congressional hopeful graduated college in 2019 before working as then-Gov. Noem\u2019s political director. From January 2024 to March 2025, she worked for Gov. Landry as Louisiana\u2019s Secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries, or so-called \u201cfish cop.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Ohio blog called The Rooster<\/a> claimed that Sheahan\u2019s appointment in the Landry administration was orchestrated by Lewandowski. It said after Louisiana fishermen were baffled by the pick, she cited her time on Ohio State\u2019s rowing team as bona fides.<\/p>\n

Noem then baffled Washington by picking Sheahan, who turned 28 that month, for one of the most important positions in the Trump administration\u2019s signature effort to deport illegal immigrants. Sheahan mused to New York Magazine<\/a>: \u201cAt the end of the day, what really makes anybody qualified for any job?\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Screenshot of Sheahan ad featuring Kristi Noem<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sheahan has been at the center of concerns about spending decisions at the department under Noem.<\/p>\n

NBC News<\/a> reported last week that Sheahan steered a second set of lucrative contracts \u2013 this time advertising to recruit ICE employees \u2013 to the same two firms. NBC said that Sheahan \u201cthreatened the job of an ICE employee for suggesting that the agency consider other contractors, according to internal communications. Sheahan said the contract award was \u2018a decision made by the secretary,\u2019 according to internal communications.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September 2025, the Associated Press<\/a> photographed Noem, Sheahan, and Landry at a new ICE prison in the state, with Landry saying, \u201cI\u2019m proud to stand alongside Secretary Noem, General Bondi, Deputy Director Sheahan as we announce the opening of the Louisiana lockup, which will house the worst of the worst illegal criminal aliens.\u201d ICE paid the state more than $1 million<\/a> a month to use the facility.<\/p>\n

The Washington Examiner<\/a> reported this week that Sheahan, with the support of Lewandowski, had ICE purchase millions of dollars in vehicles wrapped in flashy DHS logos and slogans. The vehicles were purchased without competition, and couldn\u2019t be used because ICE apprehends illegal immigrants by deploying unmarked vehicles, the report claimed.<\/p>\n

DHS denied the vehicles weren\u2019t being used in a statement to The Daily Wire: \u201cAny allegation that these new vehicles are not being used is FALSE.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE finally has the resources to grow its workforce to support ICE\u2019s mission, and that will include all types of additional vehicles,\u201d the agency said. \u201cThese specific vehicles are supplementing the existing ICE fleet and support operations across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 2020 election, Sheahan was put in charge of a Wisconsin recount that wound up increasing Kamala Harris\u2019 margin of victory, a GOP operative told The Daily Wire on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was walking around with a lot of self-importance without actually doing a whole lot,\u201d the operative said. He said Sheahan was brought onto the Trump campaign by Clayton Henson, a Trump campaign regional director who, like McLaughlin and Sheahan, is an operative from Ohio.<\/p>\n

Sheahan resigned from ICE in January to run for Congress in Ohio after, The Rooster claimed, Henson played a role in redistricting. She referred questions to a consultant, Bob Paduchik, who declined to speak on the record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former Trump administration official who is centering a congressional campaign around her work for the ousted Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is employing the firm at the center of a scandal-plagued $200 million contract, which is run by the husband of another one of Noem\u2019s top confidants. Madison Sheahan, a junior political aide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4857","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conservative-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conservative-politics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}