WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump likes to boast that he only hires the best people. But his personnel choices keep coming back to haunt him.
One of the people Trump hired for the White House was working as a foreign agent while advising him during the election. His campaign chairman caught the Justice Department’s attention for similarly surreptitious work. And a third campaign adviser was reportedly surveilled by the FBI as part of an investigation into whether or not he was a Russian spy.
The tales of Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and Carter Page – none of whom still work for Trump – have created a steady drip of allegations that have clouded Trump’s early presidency and raised persistent questions about his judgment.
At worst, Trump’s personnel picks appear to have left his campaign – and perhaps his White House – vulnerable to the influence of foreign powers. At best, they expose the long-term implications of his understaffed and inexperienced campaign organization and undermine his promises to surround himself with top notch talent.
“Vetting new hires is standard procedure for presidential campaigns for exactly this reason,” said Alex Conant, who advised Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. “Every employee is also a potential liability on a presidential campaign.”