Kristi Noem ‘blindsided’ by cross-dressing husband who put her at risk for blackmail
Ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was “blindsided” by a report alleging that her husband has been posting photos of himself cross-dressing online.
National security experts said that Bryon Noem’s alleged activities could have put his wife at risk while she served in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, according to a bombshell Daily Mail report published Tuesday.
Kristi Noem, who was fired earlier this month by Trump, is said to be “devastated” by the report, which detailed how the alleged actions of her husband of more than 30 years left her “vulnerable to blackmail,” according to the Mail.
The newspaper obtained compromising photographs of Kristi Noem’s insurance mogul husband, allegedly shared online with strangers while she served as Homeland Security chief, where she carried out Trump’s sweeping anti-immigration operation.
“The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time,” Kristi Noem’s representatives reacted in a statement to The New York Post.
National security experts told the outlet that the photographs could have been intercepted by “hostile intelligence services.”
During Kristi Noem’s tenure at the department, Bryon Noem was “repeatedly asked for money,” and sent his online acquaintances at least $25,000, according to the Daily Mail.
“It’s astounding that somebody whose spouse is at that level has that kind of bad judgment,” U.S. counterintelligence expert Jack Barsky told the newspaper.
“If a media organization can find this out, you can assume with a high degree of confidence that a hostile intelligence service knows this as well,” added former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos.
“Damaging information like this can be a tantalizing lead for a hostile intelligence service,” Polymeropoulos added. “They approach the person and say, if you work with us we won’t expose this, and if you don’t, we will. That’s espionage 101.” [Continue reading…]