One prominent far-right social media personality sometimes seen in President Donald Trump’s orbit has carved out a niche for herself as the president’s “loyalty enforcer,” according to the New York Times. But one attorney representing administration officials who have been fired is publicly condemning her influence.
The Times reported Wednesday on the growing power MAGA activist Laura Loomer has over personnel decisions in the executive branch. Loomer has already gotten Trump to fire several officials who were deemed insufficiently loyal over past social media posts criticizing the president and his base. However, Kevin Carroll — a former CIA official and lawyer who has been retained as counsel by some of those former employees — said that Loomer’s attempts to ferret out anyone who has ever spoken negatively about the president could have significant blowback.
“You have a person, from outside of the government of no national security experience and with extreme views, having de facto hire and fire authority over some of the most senior and important positions in the United States government,” Carroll told the Times.
READ MORE: (Opinion) Trump has only one way out of this mess
“Eventually, when all of the qualified people are driven out and only the people acceptable to Laura Loomer remain, there could be an extremely bad result for the United States in some international crisis,” he continued.
Loomer has already claimed responsibility for driving out the top two officials at the National Security Agency (NSA) — former director Timothy Haugh (a four-star general), deputy director Wendy Noble and chief counsel April Falcon Doss — along with several others. This week, Dr. Vinay Prasad, who was the top vaccine official at the Food & Drug Administration, also resigned after Loomer discovered that he joked about using Trump as a voodoo doll in a 2020 podcast.
The Times reported that despite her devotion to Trump, Loomer wasn’t given a job either in Trump’s 2024 campaign or in the White House. But the social media personality indicated that she aimed to continue screening administration officials to ensure they were staunch Trump loyalists.
“I was raised to dress for the job you want, and even if you don’t have the job, pretend that you do,” Loomer said. “I want to do vetting, so I’m going to do the job I want.”
READ MORE: ‘Look stupid’: Attorney reveals key sign that shows Trump nervous about Epstein questions
Click here to read the full Times report (subscription required).