A New Trump Administration Lawyer Is A Self-Described 'Raging Misogynist'
Andrew Kloster, who once proclaimed online he is a 'raging misogynist,' is now the general counsel for the Office of Personnel Management, an entity that oversees more than 2 million civilian federal workers.
Kloster described himself as a misogynist on X, formerly Twitter, in February 2023 when replying to a user who said, 'women love a sprinkle of misogyny in a man.' He wrote: 'I'm 100% women respecter precisely because I'm a raging misogynist. I'm so kind you'll want to kill yourself and die, which is the goal.'
Kloster served as a deputy general counsel at the Office of Personnel Management during President Donald Trump's first term. His return to the agency was first reported Wednesday by public corruption watchdog Project On Government Oversight.
Neither Kloster nor the OPM immediately returned a request for comment to HuffPost on Wednesday.
Kloster slid into the role of general counsel just last week as a slew of hiring, firing and funding freeze memos and directivesfrom the new Trump administration started flowing in. As HuffPost reported Tuesday, federal workers are currently being targeted with questions by the Trump administration, including asking them to explain whether any of their grants, loans or other financial aid is being used to engage in DEI programs, support or promote abortion or if their services assist immigrants.
In part of his responsibilities as general counsel, Kloster is tasked with helping to interpret and create rules that cover everything from how federal workers are protected in the workplace to how a government worker's personal political activities should be regulated.
Before this return, Kloster was general counsel for the now-former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who came under federal and congressional investigation over alleged illicit activities. The Justice Department declined to press charges after a sex-trafficking investigation into the former lawmaker, but the House Ethics Committee issued a public report in December stating that it found 'substantial evidence' Gaetz paid for sex, had sex with a 17-year-old girl and purchased illegal drugs while serving in Congress. Gaetz has strongly denied all of these claims.
The uber-conservative Federalist Society has Kloster listed as a contributor and describes him in a site biography as a 'long-time fixture of the conservative movement' before also lauding his credentials: Kloster served as an associate director to the White House Office of Presidential Personnel under the first Trump administration.
Kloster, as The Associated Press reported in 2021, was a proponent of Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen in Wisconsin and was tapped to investigate the state's election processes.
Kloster also was a legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, the same group that helped shape the second Trump administration's Project 2025 agenda. This week, metadata first reported by Citation Needed revealed the authors of at least two memos sent to federal workers mandating hiring and firing freezes and other disruptive directives were ghostwritten by onetime Heritage Foundation employees. (One of those authors was attorney Noah Peters; he once represented white nationalist Jared Taylor, the founder of the New Century Foundation, which is recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group that 'promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of blacks to whites.')
As for Kloster, according to public district court records in Maryland from 2022, the new general counsel in charge of the federal government's human resources wing was once involved in a domestic violence dispute.
Public records show he had a temporary restraining order requested against him that August with requests for several restrictions, including that he surrender firearms and stay away from certain residences and workplaces. A hearing on the temporary restraining order was held and the request was dismissed 'with stipulated temporary agreement.'
An attorney who represented Kloster in that case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
26 minutes ago
- New York Times
Here Are Some of the Southern California Immigration Raids From the Past Week
Tension has been growing for months over the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to deport people who remain in the United States illegally. But the situation escalated in Los Angeles about a week ago. After protesters converged on immigration raids and demonstrated against U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials, President Trump deployed 2,000 California National Guard troops to the city. While the focus has turned to ensuing protests in downtown Los Angeles and the heavy military response — the call-up has since increased to 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines — ICE agents have continued immigration raids each day in Southern California. It is difficult to have a comprehensive picture of the ICE efforts because the agency does not issue a list of people who have been detained each day nor the locations where they were taken from, and authorities did not confirm the number of raids they conducted in California this week. But residents, immigrant rights groups and elected leaders have cobbled together accounts of ICE workplace raids that they describe as indiscriminate attempts to find anyone who might be undocumented. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How do Israel and Iran tensions impact the U.S.?
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Tensions continue to rise after an Israeli attack that targeted Iran's nuclear program. This comes before President Trump was scheduled to hold peace talks between the two countries. 2 NEWS spoke with local experts on what this all means for U.S. security. Five things to know about Israel's attack on Iran There are still a lot more questions than answers after this strike, as both sides continue to warn the other about continued attacks and retaliatory attacks, but one Cedarville University professor says any harm coming to U.S. soil is still relatively low. 'Tensions have really been rising between the two, especially in recent years,' said Dr. Glen Duerr, Cedarville University professor of international studies. Israel and Iran have been exchanging strikes over the past 24 hours, all centered around Iran's growth in nuclear weaponry. 'It must be at a point where Mossad, the roughly equivalent of Israel's CIA, said that Iran is a danger,' said Duerr. 'They're getting to a breakout point, where they need to act.' Duerr says a lot escalated following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. 'Especially after October 7, 2023, when Israel's territory was attacked, and notably, as well, Iran for the first time directly attacked Israel via drone in April and then again in October of 2024,' said Duerr. Concerns have been raised as to if the U.S. could see an attack of this scale, or even a cybersecurity attack — especially towards prominent military locations like Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. But Dr. Duerr doesn't see that happening. 'It's certainly possible, but not likely. I think the target is Israel, although the Israeli and American defense industries are very, very closely coordinated, including in this area around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,' said Duerr. 'Certainly Iran could target the United States in terms of a cyberattack, but it's the timing doesn't make an awful lot of sense.' Israel attacks Iran's capital with explosions booming across Tehran 2 NEWS reached out to WPAFB to see if they have increased security in response to the recent activity, but have not heard back. President Trump has attempted to hold peace talks between the two countries, but the outcomes of what could happen due to this conflict are endless. 'My sense is that we'll see this kind of lower level tension, some exchanges between the two continue with low intensity into the future until something that changes, whether it's Iran's nuclear weapons program being discontinued or, heaven forbid, something broader that happens in the Middle East as well,' said Duerr. Duerr tells 2 NEWS that the conflict will be continuing — especially if Israel feels that Iran's nuclear program could reach a critical breakout point. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Secret Service Followed Protocol in Padilla Incident
California Sen. Alex Padilla is getting plenty of mileage out of his scuffle with the Secret Service and federal authorities in Los Angeles Thursday. Padillas Senate and campaign accounts posted a total of seven outraged videos in the first 24 hours after the altercation. Viral videos of the incident show a Secret Service agent dragging a fuming Padilla out of a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and he identifies himself as a senator only as hes being pushed out the door. The agent then forces Padilla to the ground, while two agents handcuff him. Padilla, however, wasnt arrested. Within the hour, agents released him with no charges. Dozens of Democratic members of Congress then jumped to Padillas defense, denouncing the action while casting the Secret Service and FBI agents involved as an extension of what they labeled as President Trumps totalitarian police state. Sen. Schumer called the Secret Services use of force "cruel and unacceptable." "This was a deliberate attempt to intimidate an elected official whose only offense is standing up for the voiceless," Schumer said. "But its not just about Sen. Padilla, its about every person who dares to speak truth to power." Republicans and conservative commentators countered that it was all a big publicity stunt and noted that a Padilla staffer filmed the tussle and then quickly distributed it to the media in the room. "Sen. Padilla didnt want answers - he wanted airtime," Rep. Byron Donalds said on Fox News Thursday night. "Shoving past security for a viral moment is a stunt, not leadership. If he cared about solutions, hed have asked for a meeting. But like most Democrats, he just wants the spotlight." "Alex Padilla is an embarrassment to California," said Steve Hilton, who is running for governor in California as a Republican. "Hes a complete nonentity. Thats why they didnt recognize him … [he has] zero accomplishments and now this pathetic stunt as his only claim to fame." Yet, one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, an ardent Trump critic, condemned Padillas treatment as "shocking at every level" and "not the America I know." Secret Service experts argue nothing could be further from the truth - that the agent was simply following normal protocol. Padilla, they said, actually received preferential treatment by not being arrested and jailed for his menacing display. The Secret Service agent warned Padilla, whom agents did not recognize as a senator and who wasnt wearing his Senate pin, to back away from Noem and then forcibly removed him when he ignored their entreaties. "They can represent this however they want, but those agents made the right decision to get him out of the room," Charles Marino, a former Secret Service agent told RealClearPolitics. "He did not have a congressional pin on, he was yelling and closing distance very quickly to make it to the front of the room to confront Noem." "Look, hes not above the law. Anyone taking those actions would been treated far worse - they would have been arrested and been forced to spend some time in jail," Marino said. "Who was escalating the situation? When you look at Padillas action, taken in totality, the agents had no other choice." Instead of dragging him to a cell, federal agents released the senator after the incident. Then Noem met with Padilla for 15 minutes and gave him her cell phone number to discuss matters further. "We probably disagree on 90% of the topics, but we agreed to exchange phone numbers and continue to talk - that is the way it should be in this country," Noem told Fox News Thursday afternoon. The Homeland Security Department issued a statement Thursday defending the federal agents actions, arguing that Padilla chose "disrespectful political theater" over constructive congressional oversight. Padilla, the agency said, "interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem." "Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers repeated commands," the department added. "@Secret Service thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately." Several other Secret Service sources backed up Marinos account. "Any sudden movement towards a protectee that feels threatening, especially when that person has not been identified, the policy is 100% to prevent further escalation or movement toward Noem," said a source in the Secret Service community. "We would have done the same thing for anyone threatening [former DHS Secretary] Mayorkas." Even though the situation escalated very quickly, the agent still followed the basic rules of engagement for law enforcement, the source asserted. Agents and officers first ask a person to move away from the protectee, then they tell them firmly to move away, and if those warnings arent abided, then they can use physical force to move the threatening person away. "Its a pretty common law enforcement way of relaying information and taking action, because emotions can get the best of people, and agents are forced to err on the side of protection," the source added. After the two assassination attempts against Trump, agents are highly attuned to aggressive behavior and working to ensure theyre not involved in any security lapses. "In this day and age, you can see what a split-second hesitate could result in," one former agent remarked. "Could you imagine if the agent didnt respond, and Padilla got on the stage and hit [Noem]?" The agency has been knocked around for months for the egregious security failures in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 and then nearly two months later during another close call against Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course. And just because its Padilla who was attending a press conference doesnt mean assaults against a Cabinet secretary or president are unlikely to occur. During a December 2008 press conference in Iraq, an Iraqi journalist threw both of his shoes at former President George W. Bush in a pique of outrage. Secret Service agents with their zero-fail mission have to be poised to respond to all types of unexpected threats, which sometimes come with no warning at all. Back in 2005, during Bushs visit to the country of Georgia, a man attempted to assassinate Bush and then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili by throwing a hand grenade at both of them. "Listen, we dont always know who you are if youre not wearing your [congressional] pin," the source said. "Youre coming at [Noem] in an aggressive manner, and you didnt heed our warnings to stop. If you get into the buffer zone, we have to take you down. All public officials should know, and I would hope understand, that." Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.
