The culture within President Joe Biden's advance team has grown so negative that the White House counsel's office has opened an investigation.
The White House and campaign aides who are responsible for traveling ahead of the president to coordinate, design and stage his speeches and events have serious concerns about the office's direction, according to interviews with 18 sources who spoke to Politico about the situation.
Ian Mellul, the former associate director of presidential advance who has been accused of verbal harassment, resigned on March 1, while Brie Moore, the former director of press advance, also resigned within the past few weeks following complaints about her behavior from the White House press corps.
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“That is simply not true,” Mellul said about the allegations, while Moore did not respond to a request for comment from Politico.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime working with this team, and I’m so proud of everything we’ve done together,” Mellul added. “After over three amazing years in the White House, I wanted to start a new chapter.”
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Current and former White House staffers and others who've worked directly with the advance team, which relies on a nationwide network of volunteers, said it had developed such a bad reputation that some seasoned veterans have declined to help organize the president's trips.
The White House human resources team began investigating Mellul's conduct about a year ago, and he underwent management training and hired an executive coach, but the counsel's office got involved after additional complaints were made, and he was then placed on administrative leave before he resigned.
Mellul allegedly threatened to "ruin" the lives of young staffers and often called them "worthless," according to two witnesses. He also sent interns to run personal errands for him, they said.
“There’s a right and a wrong way to treat people in any business,” said one of the former White House advance associates, who like the others was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “You’re just not putting your best face forward for anybody if you’re just lashing out at people, barking commands, not treating people with respect, not treating people with dignity.”
Deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said the White House does not comment on personnel matters, but sources who spoke to Politico said many upset about the team's culture blame Ryan Montoya, director of scheduling and advance and an assistant to the president.
“Ryan Montoya is the head of the department who I think everyone would blame for this whole issue," said a former White House official. "People went to Ryan many times and Ryan would just laugh it off and ignore it."
Some current and former staffers say Montoya, who also did advance work for Biden's 2020 campaign, also berated staffers and aides in front of their colleagues, but they said he escaped discipline because he's trusted by Jill Biden's adviser Anthony Bernal, considered to be one of the most powerful people in the White House.
“President Biden is deeply proud of his advance staff, its leadership, and Ryan Montoya — a stand-up, dedicated group whose expertise, comradery, and professionalism have been critical to his 242 domestic and 31 international trips, flawlessly executing events in unprecedented environments ranging from multiple active warzones outside American control to a once-in-a-century pandemic,” Bates said.
“He’s grateful to everyone who has served and is serving on an unmatched team that represents the diversity of the country as they have fought every day to help him bring his message to the American people and the entire world.”
