Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went public Thursday with a bombshell disclosure: rogue DHS staffers had secretly installed spyware on her phone and laptop, as well as on devices belonging to other political appointees within the agency.
Noem made the revelation during a sit-down interview on the PBD Podcast, hosted by conservative commentator Patrick Bet-David, where she described a level of internal hostility she says she never anticipated encountering inside a federal agency.
The secretary credited Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team with detecting the unauthorized surveillance software that had been quietly running on government devices assigned to her and fellow political hires.
“Elon Musk and his team were extremely helpful to me,” Noem said during the interview.
“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.”
Noem confirmed the spyware was not limited to her own devices.
“They had done that to several of the politicals,” she said, indicating the covert surveillance extended to other Trump-appointed officials across the department.
Noem also revealed that her team uncovered concealed spaces within the agency that contained hidden files. Those materials were subsequently handed over to attorneys for legal review.
“We found secret, secure rooms with hidden files that we turned over to attorneys,” she said.
The DHS secretary stated that the spyware would likely still be active and undetected if not for the technical expertise brought in by Musk’s team.
She said that if it weren’t for those technology experts, the surveillance software would probably still be running on DHS laptops and phones.
Noem took to social media platform X on Thursday to amplify the disclosure.
“Performing my role as Secretary of Homeland Security has shown me just how real and dangerous the deep state really is,” she wrote.
“@elonmusk helped us find that a few DHS staff had installed spying software on the phones and computers of myself and other political hires.”
She added in the post: “We found secret, secure rooms with hidden files that we turned over to attorneys. Under the leadership of [President Trump].”
“DHS is returning to the standard of excellence and behavior we expect our government agencies to function at. We will root out actors who do not have the interests of America in mind.”
The employees identified as responsible for installing the spyware were fired following the discovery.
Noem has not publicly released the identities of the individuals involved, nor have the specific technical details of the software been disclosed.
Noem reflected on her prior beliefs about the so-called deep state during the podcast interview.
“I always believed when people talked about the deep state that it existed. I never would have dreamed that it was as bad as it is,” she said.
At the time of this writing, Musk has not issued a separate public statement specifically addressing Noem’s spyware disclosure.
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