Harris poaches White House aides to bolster campaign communications team

Kamala Harris’ campaign is bolstering its communications team, bringing on two seasoned operatives from the White House for the final three-month sprint.

Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, will join Harris’ campaign in a senior spokesperson role, according to two sources familiar with the moves granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

And principal deputy White House communications director Kristen Orthman is moving to the campaign to serve as senior adviser for strategic planning.

Herbie Ziskend will move into Orthman’s role at the White House for the final months of President Joe Biden’s term, the sources confirmed.

Sams, known as an assertive and punchy flack, worked on Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign. When Biden took office in 2021, he first worked at the Department of Health and Human Services on messaging related to the administration’s pandemic response. He moved to the White House in 2023, after Republicans reclaimed a majority in the House, and was tasked with responding to GOP and Special Counsel investigations.

Orthman’s resume includes stints working for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Elizabeth Warren ’s 2020 bid and the Democratic National Committee before she joined the administration in 2023.

The moves reflect the broader shift in focus and diversion of White House resources toward the campaign since Harris replaced Biden atop the ticket last month. Sams and Orthman will join an already deep communications team in Wilmington that has had to mesh in recent weeks with the vice president’s own top press aides, Brian Fallon and Kirsten Allen.

With the departure of senior adviser Anita Dunn earlier this month, White House communications director Ben LaBolt and Ziskend — who both cut their teeth working for Barack Obama — are expected to lead the West Wing’s communications shop through the end of Biden’s term.