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Trump megadonor pushed the White House to hire her personal pick for crucial DOJ role… now humiliating fallout is revealed after troubling social media posts
Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson reportedly urged the White House to appoint Konstantinos “Kosta” Ligris to a senior Justice Department post, despite objections from department officials who considered him unqualified. The episode has drawn scrutiny over the influence of political donors and the White House personnel office’s handling of important appointments.
Sources told the article that personnel official Morgan DeWitt-Snow pushed Ligris’s nomination through, but it was withdrawn after a June Senate hearing about hundreds of social media posts he had deleted. The posts included calls to impeach federal judges and insults aimed at police and members of Congress. The Office of Justice Programs oversees billions of dollars in funding, including support for substance abuse initiatives; Adelson leads clinics and research centres in that area, but it is unclear whether any received Justice Department grants.
In short
- Adelson reportedly backed Ligris for a senior DOJ role.
- His nomination was withdrawn after scrutiny of deleted posts.
- Questions remain about donor influence and personnel decisions.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A donor’s recommendation can be a legitimate way to bring potential candidates to the White House’s attention, and the reported withdrawal after scrutiny shows that Senate oversight can expose concerns before an appointment is completed. If Ligris had relevant qualifications, his views and deleted posts would need to be assessed in context rather than treated as conclusive proof that he could not serve.
The case against
A senior role overseeing billions in public funding should be filled on merit and through a process insulated from donor influence, especially where a donor has interests in a related field. The reported objections from Justice Department officials and Ligris’s posts targeting judges, police and elected representatives raise reasonable questions about his suitability and the personnel process, even though the account does not establish that Adelson’s organisations received grants.