Additional details have emerged about a mid-flight showdown between Homeland Security advisor Corey Lewandowski that led to a Coast Guard pilot’s firing — and immediate reinstatement.DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had ordered the purchase of two new Gulfstream jets at a cost of $170 million to replace the Coast Guard aircraft that had been used to ferry her predecessors, which some Coast Guard officials viewed as unnecessary and expensive. But two DHS officials told NBC News that military officials were instructed by a senior DHS official to keep their concerns to themselves.“We were kept completely out of the loop on those Gulfstreams,” said one of those DHS officials. “I wanted to know what money they used for those Gulfstreams. But basically, we were shut down.”Noem clashed last year with Coast Guard staff after the Coast Guard plane she’d been flying on broke down and she had to use a backup jet to return to Washington, D.C. — an incident that blew up into a major story last week highlighting concerns about her leadership.”Typically, government planes that are used for members of the executive branch’s travel are returned to what is called a ‘sterile state’ after each flight, which includes the removal of all personal items of the individuals who had traveled on it,” a U.S. official told NBC. “But Noem liked the idea of keeping some personal items on board, including a heated blanket, for her convenience, so a storage cabinet on the aircraft was reserved for that purpose in a way that ran counter to typical protocols for most government aircraft.”Noem realized that she had left behind her personal items, including the blanket, while flying on the backup jet, and Lewandowski berated the flight staff and threatened to fire them for failing to grab them from the broken down craft, according to NBC’s sources.”The Coast Guard pilot came out of the cockpit to see what was happening,” NBC reported, “and Lewandowski insisted the plane return to where the broken-down jet was located to collect the secretary’s items, the U.S. official, the current Coast Guard official and the former Coast Guard official said.””When the pilot refused, Lewandowski announced the pilot was relieved of duty, according to the U.S. official, the current Coast Guard official and the former Coast official,” the report added. “The pilot explained that if he was fired he would need to land the plane immediately while another pilot was found to continue the mission to Washington, the U.S. official, the current Coast Guard official and the former Coast Guard official said.”Lewandowski ultimately backed down, as Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. A DHS spokesperson did not answer questions about the in-flight confrontation.
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