Trump official who defended DOGE purge filmed fashion influencer videos from her office: report

A staffer in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) who repeatedly defended the DOGE purge of inefficient government workers ran a fashion influencer account from her government office — and posted videos during work hours, according to reports.

McLaurine Pinover, who was appointed to as chief spokesperson at the agency in January, has filmed at least a dozen videos in the OPM’s Washington, DC office showing off different outfits and posting them to Instagram, CNN reported.

The videos included affiliate links, which let Pinover make commission if followers bought her looks. CNN reported that could violate rules prohibiting government employees from using their position or government property for private personal gain.

On the same day 20 people in the OPM office were fired as part of DOGE’s widespread culling, Pinover shared a video blowing a kiss and sharing her “work look” on her personal fashion Instagram account — which has since been deleted — along with a link to buy the $475 skirt to her hundreds of followers, CNN reported.

She posted on the account as recently as Tuesday, showing her typing on her computer at work — although she never identified herself as a federal employee, according to CNN.

It’s not clear if she made any commission off the fashion videos.

“I saw it, and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, that’s my office,’” a former OPM communications staffer anonymously told CNN. 

“She’s the spokesperson for the agency that is advocating for the firing based on performance and efficiency of the rest of the government workforce, and she’s using government property as a backdrop for her videos,” they added.

Federal regulations forbid government employees from using government property “for other than authorized purposes,” except for “de minimis personal use” – such as sending personal emails.

Pinover has repeatedly defended DOGE’s purge of federal employees. DOGE has largely taken over OPM’s office, which has for decades acted as the federal government’s Human Resources office.

When OPM sent federal employees an email last month demanding they list five things they had done in the past week, Pinover called the move “a commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce.”

Donald Sherman, chief counsel for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, told CNN that Pinover’s posts appeared to violate those rules — and questioned whether Pinover “included her efforts to promote her brand as part of the five things she accomplished that week.”

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University in St. Louis, told CNN that Pinover’s possible violations may not amount to much as she does not reference her OPM position in any of the posts,

Pinover “does not appear to be attempting to trade on the prestige of government office,” she said.

The Post has reached out to OPM for comment.

About The Author

Stephen Collopy

See author's posts