these people hang around together. They go to the same parties, they attend the same democrat fundraisers, they go to the same stores, they eat at the same restaurants and they take their kids to the same private schools. To think that this was not at least suggested by the people connected to white house is naive.
The SES and appointee levels do that stuff ~ the staffers are not SES types. Nor will they ever be. A scandal in your subagency ruins your career ~