DHS defends McLaughlin after claims husband’s firm profited millions from ads

EXCLUSIVE: Newly obtained financial statements shed light on claims that former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband’s company made millions from a DHS ad campaign.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was questioned Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., specifically called out the agency for hiring a public relations firm run by McLaughlin’s husband, Benjamin Yoho.

“I have personally reviewed the allegations against Ms. McLaughlin and find them to be without merit,” James Percival, DHS general counsel, told Fox News Digital. “Nothing illegal or unethical occurred with respect to these contracts. Ms. McLaughlin was not involved in the selection of any subcontractors.

“She is, however, a superstar in the world of public affairs, so I am not surprised that she married a successful businessman whose services attracted these outside companies.”

Newly obtained financial statements address allegations that former Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband’s company improperly profited from a multimillion-dollar DHS advertising campaign. Lawmakers pressured Secretary Kristi Noem over the contracts during a heated Senate hearing. (Jack Gruber/USA Today)

Kennedy alleged that Yoho’s company, The Strategy Group, “obtained most of the money” through what the Louisiana Republican senator called $220 million in “TV ads featuring [Noem] prominently.”

“I’m sorry,” Kennedy said. “Safe America Media was a company formed 11 days before you chose them. And the strategy group got most of the money. And the head of it is married to your former spokesperson.”

“It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here are some ads that I cut and I’m going to spend $220 million to make them work,’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think Russ Vought at OMB [Office of Management and Budget] I would have accepted that.”

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Senate scrutiny intensified over a DHS ad campaign after Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., questioned whether a company linked to McLaughlin’s husband had unfairly benefited from it. DHS officials and the company deny any wrongdoing or multimillion-dollar profits. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Strategy Group is a conservative advertising agency of which Yoho is the CEO.

Figures obtained by Fox News Digital show slightly lower total ad spending of about $185 million, with a total of about $146.5 million devoted to a campaign called “Save America.”

However, of the total allocated to “Save America,” approximately $348,000 was spent on production costs, while the remaining $142 million was spent on “media buys.”

DHS sources say media buys represent the cost of actually purchasing the ads themselves, whether purchased on social media or for a television commercial.

Kennedy also alleged that the bidding process for the contracts never happened and that the recent creation of Safe America Media was a source of concern and collusion between McLaughlin and her husband’s company.

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Debate over DHS’s “Save America” ​​ad campaign intensified as senators challenged its costs and ties to contractors, even as agency officials touted the initiative as a historic success in promoting self-deportation. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

“Yes, they did,” Noem responded during the hearing. “They put out a call for tenders and the department’s career officials chose who would make these ads.”

The strategic group published Tuesday on X that it had never had a contract with the ministry. Despite receiving several hundred thousand dollars for production costs associated with advertising campaigns, The Strategy Group never made millions.

“The Strategy Group has never had a contract with DHS,” the message said. “We had a subcontract with Safe America [Media] for limited production services. Safe America paid us $226,137.17 in total for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video commercials, and 6 produced radio commercials.

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Critics have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest related to a costly DHS advertising effort, but department officials say McLaughlin recused herself and that contracting decisions were made independently. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

“If you try to question our integrity, provide real evidence – we did it,” the message concludes.

Because these ads were purchased with public funds, all contract totals are publicly available.

Lauren Bis, who assumed the role of deputy secretary once McLaughlin left office, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats over ad spending was unwarranted because the campaigns resulted in “the most successful ad campaign in American history.”

“Sanctuary politicians are attacking this ad campaign because it has succeeded in CLOSING our borders and causing over 2.2 million illegal aliens to LEAVE the United States,” Bis said.

“DHS’s national and international advertising campaign was the most successful advertising campaign in U.S. history. The results speak for themselves: 2.2 million illegal aliens have self-exported and we now have the most secure border in American history.”

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The Trump administration has reaffirmed that all illegal immigrants are eligible for deportation as it focuses on arresting violent criminals first. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Bis also compared the cost of arresting and deporting an illegal migrant to the minimal cost of self-deporting an illegal migrant. The ministry says the advertising campaign played a key role in promoting self-deportation.

A DHS spokesperson also told Fox News Digital that contractors decide who they hire, based on the terms of a contract, not the department itself.

“Under the law, DHS cannot determine, control or influence which contractors hire or use to fulfill the terms of the contract,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox. “These decisions are made by the contractor alone. We only became aware of these companies through this investigation and we did not hire these companies.”

The spokesperson also noted that McLaughlin “recused herself” from her interactions with contractors to avoid “any appearance of impropriety.”

“Upon learning who the subcontractors were for the production of the advertisement, Ms. McLaughlin recused herself from any interaction or engagement with the subcontractors in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety,” the spokesperson continued. “The DHS Office of Public Affairs is the program manager. Ms. McLaughlin oversees the DHS Office of Public Affairs, which is simply the vehicle for this contract.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes her seat as she arrives to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that the criticism leveled at her and her family by senators during the hearing was a matter of public manipulation.

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“This is yet another example of politicians intentionally trying to trick and manipulate the public to try to stir up division and anger,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “Advertising expenditures and contracts are in the public domain, and the process was followed according to the rules.

“These politicians would rather defame America’s private citizens and small businesses than do fundamental research.”

Alexandra Koch of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.

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