WASHINGTON — Corey Lewandowski is standing by Kristi Noem’s side as she suffers the humiliating fallout from her husband’s embarrassing photos of his double life.
Lewandowski, long reported to be Noem’s lover in addition to her political adviser, is playing the behind-the-scenes puppet master in negotiating the public relations nightmare for the politically ambitious Noem, sources tell The Post.
Bryon Noem was sensationally accused in a Daily Mail article Tuesday of posting cross-dressing pictures of himself with comically large fake balloon breasts in chats with influencers in the “bimboification” fetish scene.
It’s a familiar role for Lewandowski, who occupied an unpaid but powerful role in the Department of Homeland Security when she served as secretary.
Here’s the latest on Kristi Noem’s husband’s bizarre ‘bimbofication’ fetish scandal
He lost the gig when President Trump fired her but that hasn’t driven the two apart, insiders say.
The couple are said to still be living together in the Coast Guard commandant’s house on a Washington military base, for security reasons, and they remain close as they plot their way forward.
“He’s a survivor,” a top Republican strategist who knows them both well told The Post.
Meanwhile, the shocking leak has prompted a new parlor game in Washington — who’s behind the story and why did they do it?
One theory among Republican strategists who know Noem is that she may have had a hand in the leak to the Daily Mail as part of a cynical play to rehabilitate her image after President Trump fired her as Homeland Security Secretary.
“I do think she could have leaked it,” one insider told The Post. Three others said they are not ruling out the possibility.
It’s all part of a comeback tour that she and Lewandowski are plotting with one possible goal: winning the White House.
The shocking accusation that Byron Noem cross-dresses and chats online with fetish models was seen by some strategists as a ploy to help the duo overcome a series of controversies after their careers crashed and burned following a disastrous Senate hearing on March 3.
“I can’t help but think that Corey Lewandowski is trying to divert attention away from one scandal and set the stage for the Secretary to get a divorce and them to live happily ever after,” a source familiar with the pair told The Post.
Noem and Lewandowski did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Noem’s response to the story about her husband — who lives in South Dakota while she and Lewandowski reportedly co-habitate in the Coast Guard commandant’s residence on a Washington, DC, military base — was swift and succinct shortly after the news broke.
“Ms. Noem is devastated. The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time,” her spokesperson told The Post.
The Noems have been married for 34 years and have three grown children. Lewandowski has been married to Alison Hardy Lewandowski since 2005, and they share four kids.
Noem has denied her romance with Lewandowski — despite years of reports that their relationship was more than professional.
But their connection raised eyebrows from the very beginning of her term at DHS.
They traveled together extensively, including on official DHS business trips to El Salvador, Mexico and Colombia.
Records show they took “dozens” of trips together, jet-setting on donors’ planes to far-flung love nest locales.
Last April, Lewandowski tagged along on an ICE raid in Phoenix with Noem, introducing himself to the federal agents as her “chief of staff” as the pair shuttled around in the back of a BearCat armored SWAT vehicle on a series of immigration raids.
This prompted DHS to later release a statement clarifying Lewandowski is actually an advisor to DHS and a special government employee.
Last April, the Mail reported the couple were renting apartments across the street from one another in DC’s Navy Yard neighborhood, and that Lewandowski was regularly seen leaving her posh $3,750 a month two-bedroom condo only to stroll back to his own up-market digs.
The brazenness of the affair didn’t sit well with members of Bryon Noem’s family, who told The Post they hoped he’ll eventually leave the ousted DHS chief once and for all.
However, they predicted he would remain in the marriage due to his devout Christian faith and to honor his marriage vows.
“He said he decided about 20 years ago that it was his calling from God to support her in whatever she decided to do,” one family member said. “So he has put up with the humiliation. We will see if he sticks with her now.”
“I think it’s him honoring the calling from God,” the family member added. “But it seems like there would be some limit to that.”
