What was initially described as a spat over a missing heated blanket may have been something far more awkward.
New reporting suggests the dramatic midair meltdown involving Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski wasn’t really about a blanket left behind on a government aircraft — but about a mystery bag whose contents were allegedly considered “embarrassing.”
The incident, first detailed by The Daily Beast, described Lewandowski storming into the cockpit of a U.S. Coast Guard plane in May of last year after Noem’s belongings were reportedly left behind when the pair switched aircraft due to mechanical issues. According to prior accounts, Lewandowski threatened to fire members of the flight crew and attempted to dismiss the pilot after he refused to turn the plane around mid-flight to retrieve the missing item.
The aircraft had already reached 10,000 feet and the seatbelt sign remained illuminated when Lewandowski confronted the pilot, sources previously told NBC News. The confrontation reportedly ended only after the pilot warned that firing him would leave no one qualified to fly the plane.
At the time, the dispute was framed as revolving around a heated blanket said to belong to Noem. But according to new reporting from Daily Mail, three Department of Homeland Security insiders claim the blanket explanation was merely a cover story.
“This was never about a blanket,” one source told the outlet. “The blanket was a cover story for what really happened. The whole thing was really about the bag that was left.”
According to the report, Lewandowski became alarmed after learning that at least two people were aware of what was inside Noem’s bag — contents that insiders described as potentially embarrassing.
Both Noem and Lewandowski are married with children, and their alleged relationship has long been described by Washington insiders as an open secret. Lewandowski currently serves as a special government employee and has operated as Noem’s de facto chief of staff, a role that has drawn scrutiny because the designation limits him to 130 working days per year.
The Coast Guard has denied that any pilot was formally fired or disciplined over the episode. In a statement provided to The Daily Beast, the service said that “no Coast Guard pilot was fired or received derogatory administrative action from any air station in connection with the incident described.”
The pilot at the center of the dispute, commanding officer Keith Thomas, later went on to serve as a senior adviser within DHS. When asked about the incident, he declined to comment, saying only that he does not discuss past or current missions.
Lewandowski has denied that there was any cockpit confrontation during takeoff, telling Reuters that “there was never a conversation in the cockpit when the flight was taking off,” though he did not directly address whether he entered the cockpit.
The renewed attention comes amid continued scrutiny of Noem’s professional and personal ties to Lewandowski. This week, Noem posted a video to social media from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport showing her husband, Bryon Noem, departing for South Dakota — a rare public appearance that drew fresh attention to rumors surrounding the secretary and her adviser.
Questions have also been raised about whether Lewandowski exceeded the 130-day limit tied to his special government employee status, with reports last year indicating White House officials reviewed his logged hours.
What began as a dispute over a “missing blanket” now appears, at least according to multiple sources, to have centered on something far more sensitive — and far more “embarrassing.”
