The office in the White House tasked with vetting and selecting candidates for key administration posts has struggled to recruit top candidates at a quick pace due to a small team and top staff with little experience, according to a new report from the Washington Post.
Two young staffers with top positions at the Presidential Personnel Office (PPO) have records of previous arrests for drunk driving and assault, the Post reported Friday.
Caroline Wiles, the daughter of a Florida lobbyist, started work on the Trump campaign when she was 30 years old, according to the Washington Post. She originally joined the Trump administration as a deputy assistant to the president but had to leave that job when she failed the background check. She was then moved to the PPO as a special assistant to the president, per the Washington Post. Wiles never completed her college degree and had her license suspended for drunk driving and was arrested over a bad check, according to the Washington Post.
Max Miller, a 29-year-old former Trump campaign staffer, is also a special assistant to the president at PPO. He has previously been charged with assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, according to the Washington Post.
The Washington Post’s report also described the culture of the office as social, noting that it has become a gathering place for White House staff. From the Post’s report:
Even as the demands to fill government mounted, the PPO offices on the first floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building became something of a social hub, where young staffers from throughout the administration stopped by to hang out on couches and smoke electronic cigarettes, known as vaping, current and former White House officials said.
PPO leaders hosted happy hours last year in their offices that included beer, wine and snacks for dozens of PPO employees and White House liaisons who work in federal agencies, White House officials confirmed. In January, they played a drinking game in the office called “Icing” to celebrate the deputy director’s 30th birthday. Icing involves hiding a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, a flavored malt liquor, and demanding that the person who discovers it, in this case the deputy director, guzzle it.
Read the entire Washington Post report here.
