Staffers with the White House and some federal agencies have described their workplace as being rife with paranoia, reports Politico.
Staffers with the White House and some federal agencies have described their workplace as being rife with paranoia.
Speaking anonymously with Politico, just under a dozen workers indicated the environment is filled with rivalries, efforts to undermine the president, and talk of destruction at the hands of a “deep state.”
Many reportedly expressed fear that they are being monitored and, as such, have safeguarded their personal phones with software that deletes messages once they are read.
The media outlet reports that one Republican senior staffer suggested that workers are, “mimicking what they’re seeing at the top...Everyone at the top is so suspicious that it trickles down the org chart, so everyone has become paranoid and suspicious.”
Another noted, “I wouldn't call it paranoia under the circumstances. It’s not paranoia if people really are out to get you, and everybody actually is out to get everyone else.”
Among the concerns based in reality are matters involving phones.
In late February, White House press secretary Sean Spicer reportedly instructed a number of staffers to place their phones on a table then proceeded to search them for message-erasing apps and other potential signs of leaks, notes Fox News.
In regards to suspicions that a “deep state” exists in the Trump administration, Spicer recently said, “I don’t think it should come as any surprise that there are people that burrowed into government during eight years of the last administration, and may have believed in that agenda and want to continue to seek it. I don’t think that should come as a surprise to anyone.”
