DHS operative Corey Lewandowski sold paid Cameo videos while wielding power at Homeland Security

Corey Lewandowski, the 52-year-old Trump loyalist who operates inside the Department of Homeland Security as a "special government employee," has been selling personalized video messages on the celebrity platform Cameo — charging more than $500 a pop — including at least one clip where he appears to wear an official government jacket and references Camp David by name.

The Daily Mail broke the story Sunday evening, revealing that Lewandowski's side hustle spans years but continued well into his tenure at DHS, where he approves six-figure contracts, sits in on sensitive meetings, and operates outside the agency's formal chain of command. His last recorded Cameo clip was sent on Halloween — while more than one million federal employees were going without pay during a government shutdown.

When confronted, Lewandowski told the Daily Mail he's a private citizen who isn't paid by the government. He pointed to his original Cameo announcement from 2019, in which he pledged revenue from his first 45 videos to families of fallen military and law enforcement officers.

"Go back and look at my first Cameo. I said I would donate the money to charity. Do you have issues with donating money to charities??"

He did not respond when asked which charities, if any, received revenue from videos recorded since he joined Homeland Security.

The Cameo Catalog

Six videos currently sit on Lewandowski's Cameo page. His bio reads like a campaign ad: "TV Commentator, Campaign Manager Donald J Trump for President 2016, 2X NYTimes Best Selling Author. Senior Advisor Trump/Pence 2020/2024." His account promises delivery within 24 hours and charges $500 for marketing videos plus a $50 service fee, as Daily Mail reports.

The content ranges from harmless to bizarre. In one clip, he wished a man named Owen a happy birthday at the request of a woman named Diana Sani, who left a five-star review on June 21, 2025. In that video, Lewandowski wore what appears to be a Camp David jacket — notable because President Trump had met with military leaders and Cabinet officials at Camp David roughly two weeks earlier to discuss the federal response to anti-immigration enforcement riots in Los Angeles.

Whether Lewandowski was actually at Camp David or simply wearing the jacket elsewhere remains unclear.

In October 2024, he recorded a paid advertisement for Air Scientist Solutions, a Tennessee HVAC company:

"I'm here to talk about an amazing person, Donny Case. Now let me tell you, before you know anything about him, that he has invented, founded and started an incredible company because the American spirit always finds ways to overcome. Smart air technology currently makes global news and this can only be attributed to the hard work of guys like Donny and all the great people at this fantastic company. So go out, use this product, it will save you money."

And then there's the 2020 toilet-training video. Lewandowski recorded a message for a child called "Mickey," encouraging the toddler's progress with the "big boy toilet" and thanking him "in advance for being a Donald Trump supporter when you get older." There was no Mickey. A Boston-based comedian had paid for the clip and later boasted about punking the Trump loyalist.

The Actual Problem

The embarrassing videos are a sideshow. The real issue is structural.

Lewandowski holds no formal title at DHS. His "special government employee" designation — granted by Secretary Kristi Noem — means he isn't required to disclose his finances and doesn't need authorization for outside employment under the code of federal regulations. But that flexibility was designed for part-time advisory roles, not for someone who by multiple accounts functions as Noem's de facto chief of staff.

A DHS official put it plainly:

"Since he's an SGE, the code of federal regulations doesn't require him to get authorization for outside employment. However, since he's using his access to POTUS it may be a Hatch Act violation. The optics don't look good at all."

A State Department official went further — and the concern shifted from optics to operational security:

"A foreign intelligence service, or companies anywhere in the world, could test messaging, insert language, probe for sensitive details, or quietly establish a communication pattern with a senior DHS official. For fifty dollars, no questions asked. For five hundred, he'll effectively tout your product, your company, your existence with commercial rights to use it however you want."

That same official framed the broader recklessness:

"There's no issue with Cameo itself, only the sheer institutional recklessness of us allowing someone with his level of access to operate an unmonitored, for-hire communications channel for at least eight months without a single person in the chain of command raising a flag."

A Pattern of Boundary Problems

This isn't Lewandowski's first brush with overreach inside DHS. The Daily Mail previously reported in December that he pressured ICE officials to provide him with a badge and a gun — demands he made while interviewing a potential ICE director candidate. Sources also describe a bitter feud between Lewandowski and Noem on one side and border czar Tom Homan on the other over enforcement of the President's mass deportation agenda.

The State Department official captured the dissonance between Lewandowski's authority and his accountability:

"Corey is firing federal employees, signing off on billions in contracts, sitting in on classified meetings, and running operations across the nation's largest law enforcement agency, all while maintaining what amounts to a public tender offer on his own credibility."

And then the kicker:

"This guy exercises more authority than most Senate-confirmed officials. DHS isn't a gig economy platform. National security isn't pay-per-view either."

The Conservative Concern

Conservatives should be the first to flag this — not the last. The entire case for the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement agenda rests on credibility, discipline, and seriousness of purpose. Lewandowski's Cameo hustle doesn't threaten that agenda on the merits, but it hands ammunition to every activist, journalist, and federal judge looking for reasons to paint immigration enforcement as unserious or corrupt.

The SGE designation exists for a reason: to bring private-sector talent into government without the full burden of federal employment rules. It's a useful tool. But when someone operating under that designation wields the authority of a senior official — approving contracts, attending classified meetings, shaping deportation operations — the lighter disclosure requirements become a vulnerability, not a feature.

There are two separate questions here, and they shouldn't be confused:

• Is selling Cameo videos illegal? Probably not, though the Hatch Act question around using presidential access for commercial purposes remains open.
• Is it wise for someone with Lewandowski's level of access to maintain an open-to-all, pay-for-contact communications channel? Obviously not.

The counterintelligence point from the State Department official deserves serious weight. Any foreign intelligence service in the world can spend $50 to open a direct communication line with a man who sits in on classified DHS meetings. That's not a hypothetical threat — it's an open door with a price tag on the handle.

The administration's enforcement agenda is too important to be undermined by a staffer who can't resist monetizing proximity to power. Discipline starts at home.