The Homeland Security secretary stated that department staff secretly installed monitoring software on her phone and laptop and that undisclosed secure rooms were uncovered during an internal review.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that certain employees within her agency secretly placed surveillance software on her government-issued phone and laptop, enabling them to monitor meetings and communications without authorization.
Noem made the allegations during an appearance on The PBD Podcast hosted by Patrick Bet-David, stating that outside technology specialists helped identify the software and uncover additional irregularities within the department.
“Elon Musk and his team were extremely helpful to me. They helped me identify that some of my own employees in my department had downloaded software on my phone and my laptop to spy on me to record our meetings. They had done that to several of the politicals,” Noem said.
Bet-David reacted during the interview, saying, “Stop it! Wow! Unbelievable.”
According to Noem, the discovery was made after outside technical experts were brought in to review agency devices and systems. She said investigators also located undisclosed secure spaces and files that had not been widely known within the department.
“We found secret, secure rooms with hidden files that we turned over to attorneys,” she said.
Noem described the rooms as secure compartmented information facilities, or SCIFs, and indicated that their contents were referred for legal review.
“We ended up bringing in people. And that was something that if you didn’t have those technology experts here in the department, looking at all of our laptops and our phones and recognizing that kind of software, it would still be happening today,” Noem said.
She added that the episode underscored the need for greater collaboration between government agencies and private-sector technology professionals.
“So one of the things I need to do and continue to do is partner with technology companies and experts to bring them in and help us, because many times in government… we are just behind,” she said.
Noem characterized the situation as evidence of entrenched internal resistance within the agency.
In a public statement posted on X, she wrote, “Performing my role as Secretary of Homeland Security has shown me just how real and dangerous the deep state really is.” She added that Elon Musk “helped us find that a few DHS staff had installed spying software on the phones and computers of myself and other political hires.”
Her full remarks were shared in a video post on X on February 26, 2026.
Noem said she continues to identify individuals within the department whom she believes are working against her leadership, describing them as embedded employees resistant to policy changes.
No additional details were provided regarding the identities of the staff involved, the specific type of software allegedly installed, or whether disciplinary or criminal proceedings have been initiated.
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