Senate, House Judiciary Leaders Refer Kristi Noem To Justice Department For Perjury Investigation

Senate, House Judiciary Leaders Refer Kristi Noem To Justice Department For Perjury Investigation

Durbin, Raskin to Bondi: "Making false statements to Congress is a crime … While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, referred embattled Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for investigation into potential perjury charges and for knowingly making false statements under oath following her appearances before the Committees on March 3 and 4, 2026.

In a letter to Attorney General Bondi, the Ranking Members write: "We write to refer evidence showing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem repeatedly misled the Senate Committee on the Judiciary during her testimony on March 3, 2026, and the House Committee on the Judiciary during her testimony on March 4, 2026. A number of her statements appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress."

The Ranking Members continued, after citing 18 U.S.C. §1001 and 18 U.S.C. §1621: "After months of evading our Committees' requests to testify in routine oversight hearings, Secretary Noem made a series of demonstrably false statements in a brazen attempt to undermine critical congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security."

The Ranking Members then cite four categories of statements from the hearings that amply support an investigation into whether Noem knowingly and willfully made false statements to Congress, including statements regarding DHS's failure to comply with court orders, contracting, detaining U.S. citizens, and detention conditions.

The Ranking Members concluded: "Making false statements to Congress, and making false statements under oath, are federal crimes. The examples above highlight Secretary Noem's false and misleading testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 3, 2026, and the House Judiciary Committee on March 4, 2026. We accordingly refer this matter to the Department of Justice to determine if her testimony warrants investigation under 18 U.S.C. §§1001 and §1621. While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years."

For a PDF of the referral, click here.

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