Laura Loomer’s application for a White House press pass has gone unanswered for months. The jobs she said President Donald Trump wanted her to take working for him have never materialized. And yet, there she was in the Oval Office on July 24 - her fourth time at the White House since Trump returned to office - after the president invited her during a recent phone call.

Officials in President Donald Trump’s administration are wielding MAGA provocateur Laura Loomer as a weapon to take down their rivals. Since Trump entered office, Loomer’s deeply researched loyalty tests have led her to claim at least 15 “scalps” of administration officials who were fired after her urging.

Laura Loomer is feeling emboldened, as the Trump White House this week further deepened the impression that it farms out personnel decisions to the far-right provocateur. Loomer, who seems to enjoy ready access to the president’s ear,