In a stunning display of negligence, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem had her purse, stuffed with $3,000 in cash, her government badge, passport, and sensitive documents, swiped right under the noses of her taxpayer-funded Secret Service protection.
The brazen theft occurred Sunday night at a high-end D.C. restaurant, where Noem was allegedly too distracted by her lavish Easter plans to notice a masked thief making off with her belongings.
Dubbed ‘ICE Barbie’ for her many law enforcement-related outfits, Noem’s bag, which included her makeup, was stolen right out from under her table at a D.C. restaurant.
On Monday, a law enforcement sources confirmed that the restaurant’s security footage reviewed by the Secret Service showed an unidentified white man wearing a medical mask snatching the handbag right out from under the table.
Noem also acknowledged the incident at the White House Easter Egg Roll and said an investigation is ongoing.
Among the stolen items? Not just her taxpayer-funded credentials, but also blank checks, a makeup bag, medication, and—most shockingly—her Homeland Security access badge, a critical security breach that could have catastrophic consequences if it fell into the wrong hands.
Noem’s spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, rushed to defend the secretary, claiming she was merely “treating her family to activities, dinner, and Easter gifts.”
Critics are demanding answers: Why was a Cabinet official carrying $3,000 in cash, along with sensitive government materials, in an unsecured purse at a public venue? And why did her Secret Service detail fail to prevent the theft?
“This is an outrageous security lapse,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). “If a random thief can snatch the Homeland Security Secretary’s badge, what’s stopping a foreign operative from doing the same?”
The Secret Service, already under fire for multiple high-profile failures, reportedly reviewed security footage showing an “unknown white male in a medical mask” stealing Noem’s bag. But the bigger question remains: Where were her armed guards?
Sources say Noem was not carrying the purse herself—meaning it was left unattended, a clear violation of security protocols for high-ranking officials. If a Cabinet secretary can’t keep track of her own badge, how can she be trusted to safeguard the nation?
Noem, a hardline conservative who has railed against “soft-on-crime” policies, now finds herself the victim of the very lawlessness she claims to oppose. Meanwhile, her carelessness has potentially compromised national security—all while she was allegedly splurging on Easter gifts.
For the last several weeks, Noem has—in Megyn Kelly’s own words—”cosplayed” as an ICE agent as actual ICE agents have been detaining people almost indiscriminately: From green card holders at airports to legal residents to students for their political speech protesting genocide.
Concurrently, the administration is at the helm of a horrific project to ship anyone they think might be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador called the Terrorism Confinement Center.
Known as CECOT, multiple reports have detailed the facility’s brutal human rights abuses and hard labor requirements.
In March, Noem decided that one of its overcrowded cells filled with half-dressed men was the perfect place to have a photoshoot.
The Bottom Line: If Kristi Noem can’t even secure her own purse, why should Americans trust her to secure the homeland?