Did the White House Just Hire a Man Mired in Sexual Harassment Accusations as Its Chief Photographer?

According to a report from Semafor and other media outlets, Patrick Witty, who has worked for National Geographic, The New York Times and Time, amongst others, has been tapped for the job of Chief Photographer, though Witty hasn't seemed to queries confirming the role.

In 2017, Witty left National Geographic after coming up against a storm of allegations of sexual misconduct from female coworkers. His troubles didn't end there. The Columbia Journalism Review's Kristen Chick did a deep dive into Witty's actions dating back to 2015 when he was a photo coach at the Eddie Adams workshop, a photojournalism seminar that has unfortunately been plagued with sexual harassment scandals even post-Patrick Witty. Witty was not asked to return as a coach for the workshop.

So, while there's a lot of outrage over the hiring of someone so problematic to represent the nation's highest office, there's a question that's also worth considering: Who's trolling who here?

On the surface, Witty's hiring would appear to be trolling the general, law-abiding public. But a closer look at Witty's X (formerly known as Twitter) feed makes one wonder how closely he has been vetted, considering his expression of views often at odds with those of the current administration.

For example, everyone knows how much of a fan Trump is of former president Barack Obama. Here's Witty amplifying a photo from Pete Souza, Obama's Chief White House photographer:

Clearly the best #ObamaAndKids photo ever. By the one and only @petesouza pic.twitter.com/S4XRWJUCjk

— Patrick Witty (@patrickwitty) February 20, 2016

Currently, Daniel Torok has been handling White House photography. The photos from the official White House Flickr feed are mostly credited to him and Molly Riley, but it will be interesting to see as new photos come in, if Witty's name is amongst them.

Personally, I feel like any photographer coming after Pete Souza has some big shoes to fill in this role. He was able to photograph with such grace and compassion, something that can sometimes be lacking in White House photographers since. What are your thoughts on Witty as the official White House Photographer? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

White House photo used with permission, courtesy of Sam Levitan, www.samlevitan.com.