Was Trump official, linked to Doge, filming influencer videos while in office?

While hundreds of employees were being laid off, a US department’s top spokeswoman was recording fashion influencer videos.

McLaurine Pinover, the chief spokeswoman for the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM)’s communications department, shared multiple Instagram videos during work hours.

Following criticism, her Instagram account has now been removed.

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The videos contained affiliate links, allowing Pinover to earn a commission when followers purchased the featured clothing.

But who is McLaurine Pinover, and what led to the controversy surrounding her videos?

Let’s take a look:

Who is McLaurine Pinover? Why is she under fire?

Pinover is the communications director at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

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She took up her role at the federal government’s human resources agency in January and has since issued multiple statements in support of the **Donald Trump** administration’s decisions to fire probationary employees and offer buyouts to tens of thousands of others.

Before joining the administration, Pinover worked as a senior director at the Herald Group, a communications and advocacy firm, from August 2023. Prior to that, she worked as a spokeswoman for Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Last month, when OPM sent federal employees an email asking them to list five key tasks they had completed in the past week, Pinover defended it as “a commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce.”

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She is now facing criticism for running a fashion influencer account while at work, posting videos from her government office during office hours. According to CNN, several of these clips, which featured different outfits, were shared on Instagram.

Former OPM employees told CNN that the videos were filmed inside Pinover’s office, located across from an annexe used by staff working on the “Department of Government Efficiency” (Doge), run by **Elon Musk** to implement budget reductions.

Explained: The controversy surrounding McLaurine Pinover

Pinover shared multiple fashion influencer videos on Instagram during work hours, even as thousands of employees were laid off.

On the same day that 20 staff members at OPM were sacked as part of **Doge’s job cuts**, she posted a video on her now-deleted fashion Instagram account. In the clip, she blew a kiss and showed her “work look,” also providing a link for followers to purchase a $475 skirt, CNN reported.

Here's McLaurine Pinover, Trump's Director of Communications for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), making and posting fashion influencer videos at work as her office was mass-firing government employees. Disgraceful. pic.twitter.com/JylAmEIMba

— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) March 11, 2025

However, it is not clear whether she received any commission from these posts.

Pinover is not the only Trump administration official accused of using a federal office to promote outside business ventures. However, former officials and ethics experts argue that the timing and nature of her videos were both inappropriate and potentially unlawful.

According to The New York Times, her short clips, lasting between four and nine seconds, were recorded in her office. The videos included her modelling outfits, applying makeup, sitting at her desk, and occasionally blowing a kiss at the camera.

One of her posts was shared on a Tuesday, the same day the Department of Education announced plans to reduce its workforce by half, CNN reported.

The media outlet also reported that Pinover did not respond to requests for comment but removed her Instagram account shortly after being approached. Her LinkedIn profile also seemed to have been taken down.

Her name appeared on a statement dated February 22 regarding an email directive from Elon Musk that required federal employees to list five tasks they had completed that week.

She uploaded another video on February 28, the same day a follow-up email was sent instructing employees to summarise their accomplishments at work, as per CNN.

Meet McLaurine Pinover - Communications Director at the Office of Personnel Management.

Her agency is in charge of overseeing the mass firings of federal government employees - including 20 members of her own staff. And yet, she found the time to record fashion influencer videos… pic.twitter.com/nyw9eBqmNM

— Senator Chris Larson (@SenChrisLarson) March 12, 2025

What McLaurine Pinover said on the controversy

In a statement, Pinover denied earning any money from her fashion videos.

“While I was battling breast cancer as a new mom, I felt so unlike myself. I turned to social media shortly after as a personal outlet," she was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

“I never made any income, and with only about 800 followers, I’m surprised the so-called ‘newspaper of record’ finds this newsworthy. My focus remains on serving the American people at O.P.M.”

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How people are reacting to the controversy

Government watchdogs claim that the videos, shared by the spokeswoman of the agency overseeing mass layoffs of federal workers, reflect a broader pattern of ethical lapses within the Trump administration.

Donald Sherman, executive director and chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The New York Times, “It’s illegal for a public employee to promote a private company in their government office.”

Outrageous. Trump government official who enforces DOGE cuts firing employees for “poor performance”, works as an influencer during business hours, filming in her government office. pic.twitter.com/4OZtWvTiOG

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 12, 2025

A former OPM communications staffer, speaking to CNN anonymously, was taken aback after seeing the clips. “I saw it, and I was like, ‘Are you kidding me, that’s my office,’” they said.

“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.”

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Jack Miller, who held the role of OPM communications director under Joe Biden before Pinover, criticised the situation. “Your number one job as a leader is to protect and support your people.”

“So instead of fighting tooth and nail to keep your team, we’re posting fashion videos. It’s absurd.”

Notably, federal regulations prohibit government employees from using public resources “for other than authorised purposes,” with only limited exceptions for “de minimis personal use,” such as sending an occasional personal email from a work account.

Sherman said that Pinover’s posts seemed to breach these rules, which prohibit the use of government resources for personal gain, and argued they did not fall under “de minimis” exceptions.

An analysis of metadata from the social media platform by CNN found that several of her Instagram videos were uploaded during office hours, with most appearing to have been recorded in daylight.

With inputs from agencies