Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson reportedly used her White House influence to advance a disputed Justice Department nomination in June, despite objections from senior administration officials, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Our News Outlet.
The effort ultimately unraveled, triggering an embarrassing personnel dispute that highlighted tensions and weaknesses inside the Trump administration.
Adelson has maintained close ties to Donald Trump for years. During his first term, the president joked that she and her late husband were regular visitors to the White House.In 2018, Trump awarded Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Campaign finance records show Adelson contributed $100 million to the pro-Trump Super PAC Preserve America ahead of the 2024 presidential election. And last year, at a White House gathering, Trump praised her for giving even more.
“She gave my campaign indirectly and directly $250 million. She was number one,” he said.
Sources said Adelson contacted the White House personnel office earlier this year to advocate for Konstantinos, or “Kosta,” Ligris to become assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs. The office oversees billions of dollars in annual funding for law enforcement, public safety and substance abuse programs across the country.
Justice Department officials objected to the proposal.
They told Morgan DeWitt-Snow, the de facto head of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, that Ligris, a technology entrepreneur and consultant, lacked the qualifications needed for the position.
President Donald Trump appears with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche during a press conference
Former White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson are pictured after Trump’s inauguration for a second term in January 2025
Even so, DeWitt-Snow, a close ally of recently departed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, pressed ahead with the nomination, according to two senior administration officials familiar with the discussions and another source briefed on them.
“DOJ didn’t want to hire” Ligris, a senior White House official said.
“She, Morgan, forced them to do it anyway, and his nomination ended up being pulled,” the official added.
The nomination was not withdrawn until after a damaging June confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During the hearing, Democrats questioned Ligris about hundreds of offensive social media posts that he had later deleted. The posts called for the impeachment of certain federal judges, described local police as “dumb as dirt” and insulted members of Congress, including senators sitting on the committee.
His nomination was withdrawn soon afterward.
Critics describe the episode as one example of a wider pattern of unusual decisions within the White House personnel office, where the process of filling important posts has slowed to a near standstill under DeWitt-Snow.
“She has turned the personnel office into a spoils system, and the administration has suffered immeasurably as a result,” a senior Justice Department official told Our News Outlet.
There is no evidence that DeWitt-Snow recommended anyone in return for political favors.
Trump presents Doctor Miriam Adelson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House during his first term in 2018
Senator Dick Durbin, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks at a hearing in Washington, DC
Sources believe Adelson and Ligris have a close relationship, although the precise nature of their personal connection remains unclear.
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Justice Department officials also raised questions about Adelson’s leadership roles at several substance abuse clinics and research centers, given that the Office of Justice Programs distributes funding for substance abuse initiatives.
It is unknown whether any clinics or research centers connected to Adelson have received grants backed by the Justice Department.
Neither Adelson nor Ligris responded to requests for comment from Our News Outlet.
The episode provides a striking illustration of what administration insiders described to Our News Outlet as a broader culture of dysfunction inside the White House personnel office during Trump’s second term.
Their criticism represents a sharp challenge to the personnel operation once overseen by the so-called “ice queen,” Susie Wiles, and her deputies. The office has faced accusations of delays, unanswered requests and internal battles over authority.
“Susie cared about maintaining her control and her power at all costs,” one insider told Our News Outlet, saying that attitude also influenced her allies within the personnel operation.
According to the insider, one way to preserve that control was to ensure White House employees were “loyal to you,” with their own appointees then expected to remain loyal to them.
That approach appears to have slowed the process further. The time required to fill a vacancy in the Trump administration has more than doubled since the departure of former Presidential Personnel Office chief Sergio Gor.
Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller attend the UN General Assembly in New York. Miller replaced Wiles as White House chief of staff after the 2026 midterm elections
Dan Scavino, a longtime Trump ally who serves as deputy chief of staff and director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, has been widely portrayed as largely uninvolved in the latter role during Trump’s second term, leaving day-to-day staffing decisions to his deputy.
In some cases, DeWitt-Snow advocated for or favored candidates despite objections from agency heads, creating frustration and adding to delays in the appointment process, insiders told Our News Outlet.
Other time-sensitive vacancies reportedly remained open for months, even after agencies sent the White House personnel office lists of qualified candidates for review and vetting.
Those frustrations are now influencing the reaction to Wiles’s departure and the promotion of Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff.
Insiders view Miller’s arrival as a possible chance to speed up hiring, fill critical government positions and decide what happens to Wiles-aligned staffers within the personnel office.
The number of vacancies requiring Senate confirmation in Trump’s second administration has reached its highest level since the Reagan era, according to figures compiled by the Partnership for Public Office, a government watchdog organization.
Those openings could become even more consequential as the administration prepares for what insiders call a looming “blue wave,” with Democrats expected to regain control of the Senate in January.
A White House spokesperson rejected the claims of delays and internal frustration, calling them “100 percent fake news.”
“Under Dan Scavino and Morgan DeWitt-Snow’s leadership, the White House Office of Presidential Personnel is operating more efficiently than ever before,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Our News Outlet.
“Morgan has done an incredible job hiring highly qualified, hardworking patriots who are committed to advancing President Trump’s America First agenda.”
The White House did not answer follow-up questions about Adelson’s role in Ligris’s nomination or the Justice Department’s response to his selection.
The Justice Department also declined to comment.
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