Taylor Weyeneth, the controversial 24-year-old deputy chief of staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), is the latest member of Pres. Donald Trump’s administration to
Taylor Weyeneth, appointed by #Trump as deputy chief of staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, was fired from a previous job after repeatedly missing work https://t.co/dskOwnrXhe pic.twitter.com/k1DBHRTQYr
— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) January 21, 2018
The White House issued a statement that was obtained by The Washington Post:
“Mr. Weyeneth has decided to depart … at the end of the month.”
Weyeneth had previously been “reassigned” (read: demoted) to a “White House liason” (haha) doing only “administrative work” when questions about his background first arose.
Weyeneth’s appointment immediately raised eyebrows because he had exactly zero experience doing….well, anything. He graduated from college in May 2016, and seems to have no work experience except for working in a paid position on Donald Trump’s election campaign and as a volunteer during the transition. But the Trump administration felt he was qualified for the job. Why?
Trump officials explained that Weyeneth was qualified to combat the nation’s opioid epidemic because he once lost a relative to an overdose and was “moved” by the incident. (via)
And there is this deliciousness that I found on BoingBoing.
When he was in high school, Weyeneth was “Director of Production” for Nature’s Chemistry, a family firm in Skaneateles, N.Y., that specialized in processing chia seeds and other health products. One résumé said he served in that job from 2008 to 2013, and two others indicate he stopped working there in September 2011.
In the summer and fall of 2011, the firm was secretly processing illegal steroids from China as part of a conspiracy involving people from Virginia, California and elsewhere in the United States and one person in China, federal court records show. Weyeneth’s stepfather, Matthew Greacen, pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge last year and received two years probation and a fine.
Weyeneth was not charged in the investigation, known as Operation Grasshopper. His mother, Kim Weyeneth, said in an interview that neither she nor her son knew about the steroid production and that he provided information to help the federal prosecutors.
Questions quickly arose about his qualifications after multiple discrepancies popped up on several of his résumés and reports surfaced that another job he held at a New York law firm in 2015 ended after Weyeneth failed to show up for work.
Trump may see some of himself in Taylor Weyeneth: an entitled flunky who seems only to fail up. But allowing Weyeneth to have an influential job at @ONDCP shows how little he seems to care about ending the opioid epidemic. This should be a bigger deal. https://t.co/DlzizPRIds
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 22, 2018
WaPo reported that Weyeneth worked as a legal assistant for New York law firm O’Dwyer & Bernstien while still in college, and partner Brian O’Dwyer issued this statement to WaPo, adding that Weyeneth actually was fired from the firm eight months earlier than his résumé indicated.
“We were very disappointed in what happened,” O’Dwyer said. He said that he hired Weyeneth in part because both men were involved in the same fraternity, and that the firm invested time training him for what was expected to be a longer relationship. Instead, he said, Weyeneth “just didn’t show.”
Yeah, cuz the whole frat brothers thing is TOTALLY a reason to hire a douchebag at a law firm.
BUT….he actually lied about his experience serving as a VP for his fraternity.
Weyeneth also left unchanged an assertion that he served for three years as vice president of Kappa Sigma. That claim was contradicted by a fraternity spokesman, Nathan Glanton, who told The Post that Weyeneth was vice president for only 18 months.
Taylor Weyeneth, 24 years old, has had two jobs since college.
(1) He was fired from a law firm for not showing up to work.
(2) He worked on Trump's campaignAnd Trump appointed him as deputy chief of staff for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
Disgusting!
— Brian O'Sullivan (@osullivanauthor) January 22, 2018
Hey! Y’all stop hating. He did reportedly organize a golf tournament to raise money for veterans and their families. No clue of the success or lack thereof, but I’d not hire this kid to organize my yard sale.
It’s unclear if the owner of this Twitter account is the same “Taylor Weyeneth,” but if it is, reading his posts explains a lot.
THIS is the weekend that im going to tell my boss to go to hell for good 😀 hope this works!! http://t.co/I7RKFEd
— Taylor Weyeneth (@wyntine) August 22, 2011
One more month and Ill neeeever have to wake up for my stupid booring job again – so happy I found this! http://t.co/UoJL4Qg
— Taylor Weyeneth (@wyntine) August 18, 2011
Wow. Right? Wow.
Note: the link in those tweets appear to be something spammy that was taken down, so I dunno…
And he lied about his “master’s degree.”
Weyeneth left unchanged a portion of his résumés that indicated he had a master’s degree from Fordham University, though a university official told The Post he has not finished his coursework.
Oh and perhaps the douchiest move EVER, it seems likely he lied about volunteer work previously claimed on his résumé.
He cut the number of hours he claimed he had volunteered at a monastery in Queens while at St. Johns from 275 to 150. A third résumé, provided by the White House, does not mention volunteer work at the monastery. (via)
But I’ll stop insulting douches, who do not deserve a comparison to this cretin. Douches actually do the job they’re paid to do, and they are qualified to do what they say the do. Oh, and they don’t lie about their experience. Or education. Douches are awesome. This guy is not. So it’s an unfair comparison.
This young man was put in charge of billions of dollars designated to end the opioid epidemic. With no work experience whatsoever—and certainly none that would help him oversee a project of this magnitude—his appointment was baffling to many, particularly 10 Democratic senators who wrote Trump a letter of concern.
“You have claimed that the opioid epidemic is a top priority for your administration, but the personnel you have staffing these key agencies – and the lack of nominees to head them – is cause for deep concern,” the group wrote. “This crisis knows no bounds, and we are committed to working across party lines with anyone who is serious about addressing this devastating epidemic.”
On January 14, the Washington Post reported on Taylor Weyeneth, a 24-year-old political appointee who served as Deputy Chief of Staff for ONDCP, despite his complete lack of drug policy experience. Weyeneth had no relevant work experience and only held one full-time job prior to joining the administration – working for the Trump campaign.
Download the PDF of the letter or read it here.
Via HuffPo:
He appeared to rise quickly at the ONDCP due to a high level of staff turnover and numerous vacancies at the agency. During the recent government shutdown, the Post noted, Weyeneth was one of three employees at the agency that continued to work after he was listed as essential.
Watch this video about the opioid crisis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAyak9PzNrw