Analysis: Trump’s parting gift to Noem: A suggestion that she lied under oath | CNN Politics

Either President Donald Trump isn’t telling the truth, or Kristi Noem seems to have committed perjury. There’s not really a third alternative, at this point. Trump on Thursday could have just relieved Noem of her duties, as he did. But he didn’t stop at that; he also repeatedly appeared to deny portions of her testimony — which she gave under oath — to the Senate this week. Specifically, Trump took issue with her claims that he was aware of and had approved a controversial $220 million Department of Homeland Security ad campaign that prominently featured Noem. (The ad campaign is controversial not just because of the dollar amount and how much it promoted Noem personally, but also because it resulted in a lucrative subcontract for the husband of a now-former DHS spokesperson, according to a report by ProPublica.) Noem repeatedly signaled in her testimony that Trump was aware of and even approved of the ad campaign. Trump is telling a very different story. “I never knew anything about it,” he told Reuters on Thursday, shortly before Noem was ousted. “I didn’t know about it,” Trump added later in an interview with NBC News. But how directly does that contradic