Kristi Noem’s Stolen Purse at a Burger Joint Is Nonetheless a Washington Thriller

It’s the thriller that has gripped Washington.

On Sunday evening, Kristi Noem, the pinnacle of the Division of Homeland Safety, was eating downtown at Capital Burger along with her household when a thief snatched her purse out from below her chair.

The offender scored, large time: The bag contained Ms. Noem’s driver’s license, remedy, condo keys, clean checks, division badge, passport and $3,000 in money.

The Capital Burger caper made for capital farce — the highest official charged with patrolling the nation’s borders and defending it from terrorist threats, burgled in plain view of her safety element. That it occurred to Ms. Noem, of all cupboard officers, solely added to the drama.

In an administration filled with ready-for-TV characters, Ms. Noem stands out. Final yr, she drew consideration for writing in her autobiography about taking pictures her canine who proved “untrainable” and “harmful.” Extra not too long ago, she made headlines for sporting a $50,000 gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch whereas touring a infamous jail in El Salvador. Within the images and movies she posts in her position as homeland safety secretary, she wears tactical gear, poses with weapons and accompanies border brokers on missions to nab migrants; even a few of President Trump’s allies have characterised a lot of her actions as little greater than stunts.

The theft was frequent information among the many lunchtime crowd this week at Capital Burger, a pub that sits within the shadow of the Walter E. Washington Conference Middle. It’s the form of place with an enormous pretzel and “kung pao” brussels sprouts on the menu.

“It’s somewhat bizarre,” mentioned John Lauck, 28, who mentioned he labored for the navy and was on the town from Texas. “I don’t know why anyone would have that a lot cash on them.”

On Thursday, the restaurant was crammed principally with individuals attending conferences throughout the road. One was the “World Vaccine Congress,” which payments itself as “the world’s largest vaccine occasion.” It drew in a number of scientific specialists from varied European nations. The opposite convention was the IAPP International Privateness Summit, a gathering for hundreds of tech safety specialists.

Many had seen the headlines and knew they had been consuming at a well-known crime scene. The safety convention crowd didn’t appear fairly as amused because the Europeans.

“I discover it very humorous,” mentioned Niko Pyrhönen, 29, a researcher from Helsinki. It was his third day in a row consuming at Capital Burger. “From the Finnish perspective, it’s bizarre,” he added, “as a result of we don’t use money in Finland lots; we all the time use telephones after we pay, or playing cards.”

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Division of Homeland Safety, mentioned that Ms. Noem had withdrawn the money to spend whereas her household was on the town on trip.

“I don’t actually assume somebody who lives in D.C. goes to have nice perception into why a rancher is carrying bodily cash versus a bank card,” Ms. McLaughlin informed a New York Instances reporter, referring to Ms. Noem’s South Dakota background. She declined to clarify additional.

Different mysteries concerning the burger joint episode persist.

How precisely may the thief pull off the heist with Ms. Noem’s safety element there?

One legislation enforcement official aware of what occurred mentioned that there have been a number of brokers assigned to Ms. Noem who had been on the restaurant that day, however that they had been hanging again greater than 20 ft away, wanting to provide Ms. Noem area to get pleasure from an Easter Sunday along with her household. Whereas the brokers did maintain a transparent line of sight to Ms. Noem, they apparently couldn’t see every thing that was taking place across the desk. Or, extra particularly, below the desk.

The thief was at a close-by desk and didn’t must method the homeland safety chief to snag her bag. As Ms. Noem’s spokeswoman has mentioned, “her bag was below her ft, and the perpetrator hooked the bag along with his foot and dragged it throughout the ground and put a coat over it and took it.”

The Secret Service is main the investigation till it may be dominated out that the theft focused Ms. Noem as a result of she is the homeland safety secretary.

“It’s embarrassing as hell,” mentioned Ronald Layton, a 26-year veteran of the Secret Service. And but, he wasn’t completely shocked that it occurred. “In my expertise, generally the protectee will need extra intimate moments with members of the family,” he mentioned. “They might not need to see brokers hovering over their shoulder, particularly in eating places.”

Waiters at Capital Burger on Thursday tittered nervously when requested concerning the crime however mentioned they’d been instructed to not discuss to the information media. Calls to the restaurant’s administration went unanswered. The purchasers weren’t as circumspect.

A natty German man sporting suede loafers and consuming lunch alone mentioned he had heard the story concerning the homeland safety secretary. Advised that the incident had occurred on the very restaurant through which he was now sipping sauvignon blanc, the person threw his head again and laughed uproariously.

So did a person from London and two girls from Paris.

Just a few tables down, 4 American girls who had come to Washington for the safety convention had been puzzled by your complete state of affairs. They mentioned they nonetheless didn’t perceive why Ms. Noem was carrying round a lot cash, how she may have left herself so susceptible, and why the brokers didn’t see the thief transferring about.

Then one of many girls picked up her bag off the ground and dramatically clutched it to her chest. The others started to snort.