Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana confronted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a Senate hearing Tuesday, accusing her of attempting to shift responsibility onto White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller for controversial statements about the death of Alex Pretti.
Kennedy questioned Noem about reports suggesting she blamed Miller for the administration’s messaging about the incident, which drew criticism after officials initially characterized Pretti as a violent threat.
“What got my attention was that you blamed those statements on Mr. Stephen Miller at the White House. Did you not?” Kennedy said.
“No, sir, I did not. And in fact, where you’re seeing that is in a news article of anonymous sources and anonymous sources say a lot of things. But I’ve never said that at all,” Noem replied.
Kennedy then referenced a January Axios report that cited anonymous sources who claimed Noem said, “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen.”
“Well, here’s what you said on the record. I’m going to read you your words, quote, ‘everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen’ … You said it on the record on January 27th of 2026,” Kennedy said.
Watch:
Noem pushed back on the suggestion that she was attempting to blame Miller.
“I enjoy working with the president and with Stephen Miller. And that day we were working to get as much information to the American people as possible,” she said. “That is what we’ll continue to do.”
Kennedy followed up by asking directly whether she believed it was fair to blame Miller for the administration’s messaging.
“Do you think it was fair to blame Mr. Miller?” Kennedy asked.
Noem again denied that she had ever blamed the White House adviser.
The exchange stems from a controversy earlier this year involving statements by administration officials about Pretti’s death during an encounter with law enforcement.
In late January, Noem acknowledged that some information she initially shared about the incident was incorrect. She said she had relied on details provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), describing it at the time as “the best information [they] had.”
Earlier statements from the administration claimed that Pretti had “violently resisted” officers who were attempting to disarm him. Local authorities later confirmed that Pretti was legally carrying a firearm.
Miller also weighed in publicly on the incident, describing Pretti as an “assassin” in a statement posted on X, which was later deleted. According to Axios, Miller said the characterization was based on information the White House received from CBP.
The dispute has drawn scrutiny to how DHS handled communications about the case and whether inaccurate early descriptions of the incident originated within the department or elsewhere in the administration.
During Tuesday’s hearing, however, Noem maintained that her comments were mischaracterized and reiterated that she had not blamed Miller.
READ NEXT: Turn OpenClaw Into A Real-Time Virtual Assistant For $50
Sponsored
John Kennedy here. The last fundraising deadline passed — and we came up short. Now the woke crowd is celebrating, saying “Kennedy’s finished.” Let’s prove them wrong. Chip in $25, $50, or whatever you can to close the gap and keep fighting.
