The State Department's principal deputy spokeswoman appears to be angling for another gig in front of the cameras, offering herself up for a job on ABC's The View—raising ethical questions from legal experts who say the public servant is inappropriately using her position for personal gain.
Jalina Porter, the State Department's number-two public face, who once called police officers the "largest threat to U.S. national security," took to Instagram on the night of the White House Correspondents' Dinner to "manifest" her desire for a gig on the popular daytime talk show.
"On the Black Moon Solar Eclipse in Taurus, it's time to make some manifestations," Porter wrote from her personal account, glamonthehill, in a post that has since been removed from public view. "I see me being a co-host on @theviewabc in my near future. Send me good vibes and lots of love, y'all."
Porter's post rankled career State Department officials and is fueling accusations that she breached ethical guidelines by attempting to use her government gig to become a daytime talk show celebrity. Porter has been dogged by controversy since the Biden administration first hired her. In a series of social media posts unearthed last year by the Free Beacon, Porter made disparaging remarks about the police. Since assuming her role at the State Department, Porter has sparred with career officials, who say she is difficult to work with and prone to making major policy gaffes from the briefing podium.
"This was intended as a light-hearted, personal social media post and nothing more," Porter told the Washington Free Beacon. "I am not seeking employment with The View." A State Department spokesperson said on background that Porter's post does not violate State Department ethics.
"Her lack of experience, inability to do press briefings, and poor treatment of career State employees aside, this just reinforces the widely held perception that this is not a serious person in what is normally a serious job," one State Department source who saw Porter's Instagram post told the Free Beacon, requesting anonymity to speak candidly.
Porter's bid for a job on The View raises ethical questions, according to Reed Rubinstein, a lawyer for the conservative government watchdog group America First Legal Foundation.
"It seems she is using her official position inappropriately for private benefit," said Rubinstein, who added that Porter has repeatedly shown "poor judgment" on social media and in her professional capacity. "If, as it appears, Ms. Porter is actively seeking employment with private media companies, then she should certainly recuse from working on any official matters that would have a direct and predictable effect on those companies' interests. It would be hard to see how she could justify drawing a salary from the taxpayers under those circumstances."
Rubinstein also raised issues with Porter's decision to send the post while at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which she was mostly likely attending in her official capacity as a State Department official.
"The tweet was sent via her personal account and makes no mention of her official position. Perhaps she paid her way to the White House Correspondents' Dinner. But, if not, then Ms. Porter was attending in her official capacity," Rubinstein explained. "If that was the case, then the question how the dinner furthered agency programs and operations obviously begs for an answer. Her actions here are evidence that she may not necessarily respect the line between official and personal social media or email accounts."
Porter's social media use has repeatedly gotten her into hot water.
"The largest threat to U.S. national security are U.S. cops. Not ISIS, not Russian hackers, not anyone or anything else," Porter wrote in a 2016 Facebook post that prompted her to issue an apology in 2021, after the post resurfaced.
Porter said in the apology that her remarks were a one-off. Just days later, however, the Free Beacon unearthed several other tweets that employed similar rhetoric.
In June 2020, for instance, Porter promoted a video directed at the Los Angeles Police Department that states, "Suck my dick and choke on it."
"I'm so tired of terrorist cops," she wrote in a separate post from August of that year.