Madison Sheahan was once the public face of President Donald Trump's deportation drive. The 28-year-old former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deputy director is now fighting claims she hid a two-year sexual relationship with a 19-year-old campaign subordinate, just 12 days before the Ohio Republican primary she hopes to win.

Sheahan resigned as ICE's second-in-command on 15 January to run in Ohio's 9th Congressional District, a historically Democratic seat held by Rep. Marcy Kaptur since 1983 and redrawn last year to favour Republicans. A former Noem political director who grew up in Curtice, Ohio, she joined ICE in March 2025 and oversaw operational and recruitment efforts during Trump's second-term immigration crackdown.

The allegations, first reported byDaily Mailon Thursday, have been rejected by her campaign. 'Madison was not and has never been in a relationship with a subordinate,' campaign manager Bob Paduchik said.

The anonymous ex-partner toldDaily Mailthat she met Sheahan at a Trump 2020 campaign party and later moved into her home after losing on-campus housing at Denison University during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was 19. Sheahan was 23 and serving as state election operations director for Trump's Ohio campaign. The two were briefly in a direct reporting line, the woman said, and began a sexual relationship within weeks. Two additional sources corroborated her account, according to the outlet.

A separate January investigation by Ohio outletThe Roosterreported 'several' romantic entanglements between Sheahan and campaign colleagues from that period, including one the source described as a case of 'grooming'.

The ex-partner described Sheahan as 'toxic', 'volatile', and 'controlling'. She recounted a 29 November phone call that escalated after she sent Sheahan a photograph of a black bodysuit she planned to wear out with friends. 'She lost it on me,' the woman said, alleging that Sheahan warned she would cut off contact if she went out. A witness reportedly heard the outburst through hotel walls.

Senior staff at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) say the same pattern defined Sheahan's work at ICE. One official toldDaily Mailthat Sheahan 'always' pushed to fire women she saw as threats, adding, 'there could never be a stronger woman in the room.'

Earlier NBC News reporting also alleged that Sheahan threatened an ICE employee's job after they questioned a non-competitive contractor bid tied to former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The claims land during a bruising stretch for Noem's old agency. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Julia Varvaro, 29, was placed on administrative leave this week after a former boyfriend told the DHS Inspector General she maintained a profile on the 'sugar daddy' site Seeking.com and accepted $40,000 (£29,700) in gifts and trips.

Days earlier, photographs appeared to show Noem's husband, Bryon, cross-dressing in private chats with three women. Noem herself was removed as Homeland Security Secretary in early April.

Source: International Business Times UK