Kristi Noem files for divorce after 34 years of marriage

Kristi Noem, who was dismissed as US Secretary of Homeland Security, has filed for divorce from her husband of 34 years, Bryon Noem. Court records filed in Hamlin County, South Dakota — the state she previously governed — cite irreconcilable differences as the reason.

The filing, submitted "for settlement purposes only," was signed by Noem's lawyer, Michael Sabers, on April 6 — just over a week after the Daily Mail published photos showing her husband wearing inflated fake breasts under a spandex shirt. At the time, Noem said in a statement she was "devastated" by the images and that her family had been "blindsided" by them. However, the paperwork was only formally filed in court this week, according to the New York Times.

The disclosure comes weeks after Noem lost her position at the Department of Homeland Security. Speculation about the state of her marriage had already been swirling amid rumors linking her to her department aide, Corey Lewandowski.

At a Capitol Hill hearing on March 4, a Democratic lawmaker directly asked Noem whether she had had a sexual relationship with Lewandowski. Testifying under oath, and accompanied at the hearing by her husband, Noem dismissed the question as "tabloid garbage" but did not deny it outright.

She was fired the following day, reportedly after Trump grew angry over her answers regarding a taxpayer-funded publicity campaign that promoted her own image; Noem told the committee that Trump had approved the spending.

She was succeeded as Homeland Security Secretary by Markwayne Mullin, following a turbulent tenure that included the fatal shootings of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis. Noem faced heavy criticism after labeling the two "domestic terrorists."

Noem, 54, married Bryon Noem, 56, in 1992. The couple has three adult children.