After months of public scrutiny, damaging revelations and signs of turmoil behind the scenes, a major change in former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s personal life has now become official.

Noem has filed for divorce from her husband, Bryon Noem, bringing their marriage of more than three decades toward an end.

Court documents filed in South Dakota cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. The filing was submitted April 6 but did not appear on Hamlin County’s online court system until Monday.

The couple married in 1992 and share three adult children.

The filing follows months of controversy surrounding Bryon’s reported private online activity, including allegations of explicit exchanges with adult models and participation in an online cross-dressing fetish community.

Photos published earlier this year reportedly showed Bryon wearing pink shorts, a crop top and exaggerated prosthetic breasts as part of what was described as a “bimbofication” fetish.

He was also reported to have sent at least $25,000 to online models through PayPal and Cash App while allegedly using the alias “Jason Jackson.”

One model said she discovered his identity after accidentally calling a number and hearing a voicemail greeting for Noem Insurance, the South Dakota insurance agency Bryon operates.

A spokesman for Kristi said at the time that she was “devastated” and that the family had been “blindsided” by the revelations.

Asked about the divorce proceedings by a South Dakota news outlet, Bryon offered little indication that he planned to discuss the matter publicly.

“I can’t comment right now.”

For members of Kristi’s family, however, the split apparently did not come as a surprise.

Kristi’s mother, Corinne Arnold, said in July that her daughter had already told relatives she intended to end the marriage and had hired an attorney in Sioux Falls.

“It has been difficult, but we knew this was coming, that they were going to get divorced,” Arnold told the Daily Mail.

“I feel bad, sick that they’re getting a divorce, but what else can you do?” she added.

By that point, Bryon had reportedly moved out of the couple’s Castlewood home and was living approximately 20 miles away.

The marriage had also faced years of public speculation surrounding Kristi’s relationship with longtime political adviser Corey Lewandowski.

Both Noem and Lewandowski have denied allegations that they had a romantic affair, and no independently verified evidence has publicly established that such a relationship occurred.

The two were photographed together in Minnesota in August, including at a lunch and while cycling near Lake Minnetonka.

Their professional relationship had previously attracted scrutiny during Noem’s tenure at the Department of Homeland Security, where Lewandowski served as an unpaid adviser.

During a congressional hearing in March, Noem was directly questioned about allegations involving Lewandowski and dismissed the questioning as tabloid material.

The turmoil surrounding her marriage intensified around the same period that she left the Department of Homeland Security and later assumed a State Department position as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

President Donald Trump also publicly reacted after reports concerning Bryon’s alleged online activity surfaced.

“Wow, well, I feel badly for the family if that’s the case, that’s too bad.”

Noem later returned to Pierre, South Dakota, for the unveiling of a life-sized bronze statue honoring her tenure as governor.

Her mother and grandchildren attended the ceremony.

Bryon did not.

After months of reported separation, family acknowledgment of the impending split and intense public attention surrounding the couple’s marriage, the matter has now moved into court.

More than three decades after Kristi and Bryon Noem married, their divorce filing makes the breakup official.

One of FBI Director Kash Patel’s top deputies is abruptly leaving the bureau, creating another opening at the highest levels of an agency already undergoing major organizational changes.

Andrew Bailey, the former Missouri attorney general who has served as one of the FBI’s co-deputy directors, announced Monday that he is stepping down after roughly a year at the bureau and returning home to his family in Missouri.

His final day will be Friday, Oct. 2.

“With great pride in what we have accomplished, I am announcing that I am stepping down to return to my family in Missouri,” Bailey said.

Bailey joined the FBI in 2025 after leaving the Missouri attorney general’s office and became part of an unusual leadership structure under Patel, serving alongside another co-deputy director.

His departure comes as Patel continues implementing major personnel and organizational changes at the FBI amid longstanding political disputes over the bureau and allegations of political bias in federal law enforcement.

Bailey, a Republican who previously served as Missouri’s top law enforcement official, has been a vocal supporter of Patel’s efforts to reshape the agency.

And despite his sudden departure, Bailey made clear that he continues to support Patel and the direction of the bureau.

“I am confident Director Patel will continue to reform the FBI, combat violent crime, defend the homeland, ensure strong organizational accountability, and restore public trust in this institution of excellence,” he added.

Bailey also thanked President Donald Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patel for giving him the opportunity to serve.

During his tenure, Bailey became a visible member of the FBI’s leadership team, appearing alongside federal and state officials during law enforcement operations and promoting the bureau’s emphasis on combating violent crime.

He also participated in major investigations and enforcement initiatives as Patel’s leadership team sought to redirect bureau resources and address concerns among conservatives who had become deeply skeptical of the FBI.

The bureau has undergone extensive personnel and organizational changes since Patel became director in February 2025.

Patel has argued that the FBI needs to move away from what he describes as politicized enforcement and refocus the bureau on traditional law enforcement priorities, including violent crime, counterterrorism and threats to national security.

Those efforts have made Patel’s tenure closely watched in Washington as the Trump administration pursues broader changes across the federal government.

Bailey’s resignation now creates another vacancy near the top of the FBI less than two years into Patel’s tenure.

But Bailey said his decision was personal.

According to his public announcement, he is leaving Washington to return to Missouri and spend more time with his family.

Nothing in Bailey’s announcement indicated that he had been forced from his position or that his departure resulted from a dispute with Patel.

Instead, Bailey used his exit announcement to praise the FBI’s work during his tenure and publicly reaffirm his confidence in Patel.

His departure nevertheless removes a prominent member of Patel’s leadership team at a consequential moment for the bureau.

With Bailey preparing to leave Washington on Friday, Patel will now move forward without one of the senior officials who helped carry out the FBI overhaul during its first year under his leadership.

Fox News is bringing one of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s most prominent former aides onto its platform — a move that immediately triggered a furious response from one of the network’s own former personalities.

Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s longtime top lieutenant and former secretary to the governor, has been hired as a Fox News contributor and will appear on the network’s new weekly podcast, “The Girls.”

DeRosa will make her debut when the program premieres Oct. 1, Fox News Media announced Monday.

But the announcement quickly reopened one of the most bitter controversies surrounding Cuomo’s administration: New York’s handling and reporting of nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean blasted the decision.

Dean’s mother-in-law and father-in-law died of COVID-19 in 2020 after living in New York long-term care facilities. Their deaths turned Dean into an outspoken critic of Cuomo and his administration as she pushed for answers about the state’s nursing home policies.

Following news of DeRosa’s Fox role, Dean unloaded.

“Melissa DeRosa helped smear the women who came forward about Andrew Cuomo’s harassment, and played a hand in undercounting nursing home deaths during COVID. Also tried to silence my advocacy.”

DeRosa served as secretary to the New York governor, becoming the first woman to hold the powerful position.

She resigned in August 2021 as sexual harassment allegations engulfed Cuomo’s administration.

But DeRosa had already become a central figure in the controversy surrounding the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing home death information.

Months before her resignation, DeRosa acknowledged during a private call with Democratic state lawmakers that the administration had withheld nursing home death data while facing concerns about a possible investigation by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

The February 2021 disclosure intensified scrutiny over New York’s accounting of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents.

At the time, the state’s nursing home tally did not include residents who died after being transferred from nursing homes to hospitals, leaving thousands of deaths outside that particular count.

DeRosa later maintained that the administration had placed state lawmakers’ request for the information on hold while it prioritized responding to the federal inquiry.

The controversy did not end there.

A New York State Assembly investigation released in November 2021 concluded that Cuomo had not been fully transparent about nursing home resident deaths.

The investigation also concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed women and used state resources in connection with the production and promotion of his pandemic memoir.

Now DeRosa is returning to the political-media spotlight through Fox News.

She will appear on “The Girls,” a new weekly podcast featuring a rotating group of female co-hosts discussing politics, careers, family life and pop culture.

The premiere will also feature Fox personalities Rachel Campos-Duffy, Harris Faulkner and Kat Timpf.

New episodes are scheduled to be released Thursdays on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The launch will also bring former ESPN personality Sam Ponder back into the spotlight following her 2024 departure from the sports network.

Ponder, the former host of “Sunday NFL Countdown,” will join DeRosa and the Fox personalities for the premiere episode.

But it is DeRosa’s addition that has already generated controversy before the first episode even airs.

For Dean, the issue is deeply personal.

She spent years publicly challenging Cuomo’s administration over its handling of nursing homes after losing two family members during the pandemic.

Now the former governor’s onetime top aide is joining the same media organization where Dean became one of the most visible critics of that administration.

And Dean made clear exactly what she thinks of the decision.