Kristi Noem, the former Homeland Security secretary, erupted publicly this week because a South Dakota news outlet accurately reported her son-in-law is her son-in-law.

The latest controversy centers on Kyle Peters, a Watertown city council member married to Noem’s daughter Kassidy since 2019, reported The Daily Beast.

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Sioux Falls developer A1 Development Solutions had sued Peters and his company, Bad River Development, in February, accusing him of using his position — first as an A1 employee, later as an independent contractor — to siphon away at least 11 clients before leaving the firm in November 2025. Court records show Peters had acquired a 17.5 percent stake in A1 through Bad River before the relationship soured.

Circuit Court Judge Carmen Means dismissed the case with prejudice in late August, following what she described as an agreement between the parties. Peters told the Argus Leader he and his family were glad to have the dispute “fully and permanently” resolved and were focused on their businesses and children.

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After the dismissal, Noem posted a link on X to a story from the Dakota Scout, an independently owned South Dakota outlet, that included a photo of Peters, and complained their coverage was politically motivated against her.

“You guys suck and you should apologize to him for dragging his reputation through the mud,” posted Noem, who had served as South Dakota governor before Trump tapped her to run DHS in January 2025. “You did it to score political points against his mother-in-law. You are a tabloid. NOT reporters. He won. He was right. Publish that.”

Several users online pushed back, noting that a settlement is not the same as a legal victory and reminded her of past DHS controversies under her watch.

The 54-year-old Noem left her Cabinet post in March after a rocky tenure marked by fallout from deadly ICE raids, a disastrous congressional hearing and a $220 million agency ad campaign that made her a target of mockery online, and the president subsequently created a new role for her as special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas.”

The episode adds to a rough stretch for Noem’s family in the public eye. Her husband, Bryon Noem, made headlines earlier this year after an online alter ego and payments to fetish models surfaced, and Noem’s mother said last month that the couple planned to divorce.

Meanwhile, one of Peters’ major clients, Gemini Capitol, is behind a proposed Sioux Falls data center that recently lost a bid for state tax exemptions after South Dakota lawmakers voted down the relevant incentives earlier this year.