Scandal: A series examining corruption in leadership and its downstream consequences.
In the final hours of Kristi Noem’s tenure as homeland security secretary, her department approved the purchase of five aircraft for $304 million from a company led by one of her political donors, including three luxury jets that were sold to the federal government at substantial markups.
The purchases were part of a broader Department of Homeland Security contract with Daedalus Aviation Corporation. The broader agreement was a roughly $464 million no-bid contract, according to federal contracting records and subsequent congressional oversight materials. The New York Times reported that its value increased by roughly $303 million on March 24, the day Noem’s successor was sworn in. The contract was intended to provide aircraft for Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal operations.
Daedalus is chaired by William Walters, who contributed $10,000 in 2024 to American Resolve, a political committee created to support Noem. The Washington Post reported the contribution using federal campaign-finance records. Walters also led Salus Worldwide Solutions, which received a separate DHS contract worth nearly $1 billion, according to the Post.
One of the aircraft was a Boeing 737 converted into an expansive private jet, with a stand-up bar, two bedrooms, marble showers and a table covered in manta ray skin. DHS agreed to pay $108 million for the plane, according to documents reviewed by the Times.
Its previous owners had placed the aircraft on the market for $89 million in 2023, according to documents reviewed by the Times, and it remained advertised for less than $90 million into 2025. Daedalus acquired it in September 2025. The price Daedalus actually paid for the aircraft has not been publicly disclosed.
“Laws are like spiders’ webs; the big flies get through, while the little ones are caught.”
— Honoré de Balzac, The Firm of Nucingen (1838)
Scandal examines political misconduct, institutional failure, elite impunity and the systems that allow powerful people to escape accountability.
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