Chief Pentagon spokeswoman and top aide to Defense Secretary James Mattis Dana White is under investigation by the DOD Inspector General for using her aides to perform chores and errands well outside their personal purview, according to a Wednesday CNN report.
The probe has reportedly been ongoing for weeks. She has been accused of using aides to pick up her dry cleaning, work on her mortgage papers, get her snacks and lunch and arrange her personal vacation travel, among other things.
Per CNN, the Pentagon’s ethics standards are very clear on this subject. “A DOD official may not direct or request subordinates to use official time to perform any activities other than official activities,” they read.
Though the allegations have reportedly been trickling in for months, the issue intensified recently when staffers alleged that after they complained about being misused in their positions, they were shunted to another department out of retribution.
When the IG probe is finished, Mattis will receive the office’s recommendation of how to proceed, but he gets the ultimate decision.
If I were preparing a list of the top thousand things I find upsetting during the trump era, I’m not sure making some assistant pick up some dry cleaning would make the list. Maybe not even the top hundred thousand…
Indeed. In the litany of the personal and political malfeasance of the Trump administration, this hardly lifts the needle off the peg. In terms of atmospheric disturbance, this would rate somewhere around “fart in a windstorm”.
How about “transferring” people who complained about it?
It’s swamp all the way down.