Kristi Noem’s ‘catastrophic’ wiretap blunder could take years to fix: report

Former Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem left a mess behind her after she was fired, with a former federal agent calling a wiretap blunder on her watch “catastrophic.”According to a report by Tom Latchem of PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister investigations outlet, a “tech blunder” at DHS while Noem was secretary knocked out Homeland Security Investigations’ ability to use wiretaps for months. PunchUp reported that experts say recovering from it will take “years.”HSI, ICE’s criminal investigative arm, “inadvertently” changed internet providers in April 2025, three months after Noem took charge at DHS, according to a procurement document DHS released last month. The agency was assigned a new internet address and had to rebuild connections with roughly 50 telecommunications providers. DHS admitted the result was “months of downtime for wiretaps.”The disclosure appears to have come only as ICE explained why it was sticking with its current internet provider. ICE...