Kristi Noem despises husband Bryon’s family; Insider spills the beans on Corey Lewandowski’s affair dispute

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem as Homeland Security secretary. The appointment requires Senate confirmation. The 54-year-old was grilled during a congressional hearing this week, with Rep. Sidney Kamlager-Dorff asking her point-blank whether she had had sex with Lewandowski, who was married. Noem dismissed the skepticism as “tabloid garbage.”

Read more: Kristi Noem affair dispute: Shocking reason husband Bryon didn’t file for divorce despite being humiliated

Kristi Noem is also accused of spending $220 million on advertising campaigns featuring her. It’s unclear whether Trump cleared the spending.

A relative told the publication that tensions between the fired DHS chief and her husband’s family had been simmering for years.

Read more: Will Corey Lewandowski leave DHS along with Kristi Noem? What Markwayne Mullin’s team might look like

“She despised the Noem family,” a relative said.

Speaking about Byron being with Christie during the hearing, the source added, “I really liked that he sat behind her when she was being grilled about ICE brutality. I think he was ignoring reality. Maybe he has to face it now.”

The couple first met as teenagers and began dating when Christy was a junior at Hamlin High School in Haiti, South Dakota. At the time, Brian was already a freshman at Northern State University.

They married in 1992, spent more than thirty years together and raised three children. During the early years of their marriage, Christy and Brian worked together on the family farm. Their careers eventually diverged when Brian entered the insurance industry in 2003.

Christie also quickly entered public life and began her political career in 2006 by winning a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives. Her political trajectory later led to her election as governor of South Dakota in 2018.