IG PROBES DANA WHITE: One of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ top advisers just became the latest Trump appointee ensnared by allegations of misusing their authority. Chief Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White has been under investigation by the Pentagon inspector general for weeks over claims she mistreated staff by making them conduct personal errands and business, CNN reported. The IG is looking into allegations that White improperly asked staff members to get her snacks and pantyhose from the Pentagon CVS store, pick up her lunch, drive her to work, and do her mortgage paperwork. Two staffers who reported the abuses claim White retaliated by transferring them, according to the CNN report.

“If they’re true, they’re not insignificant allegations. Particularly troubled by retaliation. That’s the worst of it. But even just the personal errands and the picking her up and that kind of — that’s just absolutely completely forbidden. You can’t do that as a senior official in the Pentagon,” John Kirby, a retired rear admiral and former Pentagon spokesman, told CNN. For now, the investigation is ongoing and none of the allegations has been substantiated. “This is an ongoing review about which we cannot comment,” Charles Summers, principal deputy assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs, said in response to media queries. White could face administrative punishment, depending on what the IG determines and any decision by Mattis.