Former Fox News commentator Monica Crowley is in talks to become the top spokeswoman for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, two sources told CNN.
These people noted that the choice has yet to be finalized.
If picked, Crowley would replace Tony Sayegh to become the new assistant secretary for public affairs. Sayegh is leaving the Treasury Department at the end of May after serving more than two years with Mnuchin.
His departure coincides with that of Mnuchin’s chief of staff Eli Miller, who will be moving to the Blackstone Group, the private equity firm headed by Trump supporter Stephen Schwarzman.
A Treasury spokesman couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
The changeover comes amid an escalating fight between the White House and House Democrats over access to Trump’s tax returns.
House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal sent a second request with an April 23 deadline to comply. But Mnuchin has said he would consult with the Justice Department first before proceeding any further.
President Donald Trump had initially planned to appoint Crowley to a position at the National Security Council, but she withdrew in January 2017 after CNN reported she had plagiarized portions of her 2012 book.
Crowley subsequently worked for a Ukrainian oligarch, Victor Pinchuk, according to a registration notice filed with the Justice Department’s foreign agent registration office in March 2017.
Pinchuk, a Ukrainian billionaire, drew notice from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team concerning a $150,000 payment made to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in 2015, The New York Times reported in April 2018, citing three people briefed on the matter.
The donation, one of the largest to the charity in 2015, was provided in exchange for a 20-minute video appearance by Trump at a conference in Kiev, according to the paper. It was discovered when investigators subpoenaed the Trump Organization for information related to foreign business deals, the Times reported.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.