On the same day [Office of Personnel Management (OPM)] sent a government-wide memo pressing federal officials to identify barriers they faced in their work to “swiftly terminate poor performing employees,” [the agency’s chief spokesperson, McLaurine] Pinover posted a video blowing a kiss to the camera with the caption “work look” and the hashtag #dcinfluencer. Her Instagram account linked to a site where viewers could buy the $475 purple skirt she wore in the video.
“Your number one job as a leader is to protect and support your people,” said Jack Miller, who preceded Pinover as the politically appointed OPM communications director under President Joe Biden. “So instead of fighting tooth and nail to keep your team, we’re posting fashion videos. It’s absurd.”
Lambert here: “Number one job”? “Leader”?
The videos were filmed inside the office of the OPM communications director on the fifth floor of the agency’s Washington, DC, headquarters, according to three former OPM staffers. The office is across the hall from a secure annex that has become a hub for workers at the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting effort pushed by Trump ally Elon Musk.
Several of the Instagram videos from Pinover’s office were posted during business hours, according to a review of code embedded in the social media website, and most appear to have been filmed during the daytime.
“While her team is getting axed, she’s twirling around in her office,” added the other former staffer.
Before Pinover joined OPM at the beginning of Trump’s second term, she worked as a senior director at a public affairs firm, and was a deputy communications director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to her LinkedIn page. She also worked as an assistant in the Executive Office of the President during Trump’s first term.
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