Democratic strategist Juanita Tolliver warned on Wednesday that the people President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE has surrounded himself with are driving the administration into dangerous territory, citing recent allegations that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Wilbur Louis RossTrump admin asks Supreme Court to fast-track excluding people in U.S. illegally from census Trump 'very happy' to allow TikTok to operate in US if security concerns resolved TikTok, WeChat to be banned Sunday from US app stores MORE swindled large sums of money from associates during his time as a businessman.

"This is just another example of the culture of corruption and the type of people Trump surrounds himself with that are really driving this administration into a dangerous place," Tolliver, the director of campaigns at the Center for American Progress, told Hill.TV's Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on "Rising."

"These are court cases past and present still working through the appeals process, where employees are claiming that he stole millions from them, where he stole millions from clients," she said.

Tolliver was responding to a recent Forbes article, in which 21 of Ross's former colleagues accused him of wrongly taking money from associates for himself.

Forbes reports that Ross would have swindled over $120 million from associates if the allegations are true.

The Commerce Department has denied the accusations against Ross.

"The anonymously sourced Forbes story is based on false rumors, innuendo, and unverifiable claims," the department said in a statement. "The fact remains that no regulator has made any of these accusations against the Secretary. This rehash of old stories is clearly the result of a personal vendetta. The baseless claims made in this story were well publicized long ago and are not news."

The accusations against Ross come a month after Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt Edward (Scott) Scott PruittJuan Williams: Swamp creature at the White House Science protections must be enforceable Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE resigned from his post following months controversies surrounding his spending, ethics, and management.

— Julia Manchester