An informed public,
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Recently, the State Department’s Inspector General opened an investigation into retaliation by a Trump administration official against career diplomats and non-political employees suspected of being disloyal to President Donald Trump.
The Office of Special Counsel is also investigating the same official, Mari Stull – a former wine blogger who President Trump appointed to a senior State Department post. Stull has reportedly been monitoring social media accounts of State Department employees to detect evidence of potential disloyalty.
American Oversight has submitted FOIAs to find out more about Mari Stull’s role at State and her loyalty investigations.
We’ve also been investigating expectations of loyalty across the government, as well as attempts to purge employees who used to work in the Obama administration. Our team has submitted FOIAs to multiple agencies to find out if retaliation for perceived disloyalty is happening at departments beyond State.
So far, emails we obtained have shown this attitude at other agencies, including an email claiming that “POTUS needs of the loyal help he can get” and communications with an alt-right commentator about “Never Trumpers.” [sic]
It’s clear from the resumes of unqualified appointees we’ve obtained that President Trump values loyalty over experience. Numerous resumes of political appointees hired by the administration include statements of personal loyalty to the president.
Part of Investigation: