A U.S. Coast Guard pilot was let go following a debacle over a blanket, claims The Wall Street Journal<\/p>\n
\n\tA lone blanket belonging to Homeland Security Secretary\u00a0Kristi Noem<\/a> reportedly led to a poor\u00a0U.S. Coast Guard pilot being fired, then soon rehired, after it was forgotten on a plane.<\/p>\n \n\tIn a wide-ranging story by The Wall Street Journal<\/a> \u2014 which explores the \u201cconstant chaos inside DHS\u201d amid a federal immigration crackdown and Noem\u2019s alleged rivalry with Trump\u2019s border czar Tom Homan, among other things \u2014 her relationship with close adviser Corey Lewandowski came under scrutiny and their alleged penchant for firing DHS employees or putting them on administrative leave. According to WSJ, the pair have \u201cfired or demoted roughly 80% of the career ICE field leadership that was in place when they started.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDuring the blanket debacle, a maintenance issue reportedly forced her to switch planes, but, alas, Noem\u2019s blanket didn\u2019t make the trip and was left behind. The Coast Guard pilot was allegedly fired by Lewandowski after the unforgivable faux pas and told to hitch a commercial flight home, but was quickly reinstated when it dawned on those in power that no one else could fly them back.<\/p>\n \n\tA rep for DHS did not immediately reply to Rolling Stone\u2018s request for comment. WSJ said that while a spokeswoman did not address the alleged incident, the rep said that Noem has \u201cmade personnel decisions to deliver excellence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n \n\tElsewhere in the report, the publication claimed that Noem and Lewandowski have launched a \u201crehabilitation tour\u201d following public backlash over the secretary\u2019s handing of the immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis and the fatal shooting by federal agents of\u00a0Alex Pretti<\/a>, a 37-year-old nurse in the intensive care unit of a local V.A. hospital, and Renee Good<\/a>, a 37-year-old poet and mother of three on her way home from school drop-off. Following the tragedies, Noem falsely claimed that Pretti \u201ccommitted an act of domestic terrorism\u201d before he killed. <\/p>\n