Kristi Noem was dismissed from her position as Secretary of Homeland Security following extensive discussions regarding her extramarital relationship with Corey Lewandowski. However, Kristi’s reputation suffered a major setback in 2025 due to the rumors surrounding the affair and reports suggesting she could be on the verge of divorce from her spouse, Byron Neom. Additionally, according to reports, Kristi’s influence has also impacted her daughter’z professional trajectory.
Here’s what happened with Kassidy Noem-Peters
In 2021, a Republican was alleged to have leveraged her influence to assist her daughter, Kassidy Noem-Peters, in acquiring a real estate appraiser license — as testified by a former state employee before the Joint Government Operations and Audit Committee of the South Dakota legislature, according to CNN. The controversy was significant enough to compel Noem’s daughter to step down from her position.
In July 2020, Sherry Bren, the former executive director of the South Dakota Appraiser Certification Program, was summoned to a meeting with Noem and her daughter, Kassidy. At that time, Kassidy was in the midst of her application process to become a state-certified real estate appraiser. Bren expressed her astonishment at Kassidy’s presence in the meeting, particularly since one of the discussion points was the challenges associated with obtaining an appraiser license.
When Sherry Bren spoke out
Furthermore, Bren noted that Kassidy’s application contained “serious deficiencies,” yet after two attempts, she was granted a third opportunity to rectify these issues. CNN disclosed that it is customary for applicants to receive only two chances to apply.
The circumstances grew increasingly peculiar when Bren was compelled to retire just months following the meeting. CNN further disclosed that during her testimony, the former government official expressed that she “was very nervous and quite frankly intimidated” in the presence of Kristi, Kassidy, and a group of prominent state officials.
Kristi Noem denied allegations
Noem, however, refuted any connection between her daughter’s pursuit of a license and Bren’s enforced retirement.
Four months subsequent to the meeting, Kassidy’s license received approval. In 2021, an investigation was initiated to determine whether Noem had leveraged her influence to benefit her daughter, yet Kassidy did not wait for the conclusion of the inquiry: she opted to exit the real estate sector entirely, as the inquiry itself was sufficient to inflict “irreparable damage” to her business, as per Dakota News Now, which presented a copy of Kassidy’s correspondence to the South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation.
Kassidy Noem-Peters broke silence
“I’m angry and I can acknowledge that this has successfully destroyed my business. My business is finished, and the years I spent working to become licensed amount to nothing. So, I’ve decided that I will no longer accept new appraisal orders and will wrap up the few pending orders I do have,” Kassidy wrote in the letter.
