A senior White House official has been linked to key backers of an alleged cult known as NXIVM that has been accused of brainwashing women into becoming sex slaves.

Buzzfeed News has published an article detailing the relationship between President Trump's deputy chief of staff for operations Joe Hagin and an influential Libyan politician who is said to have spent years promoting NXIVM, which bills itself as a women's empowerment group.

A consulting firm co-founded by Hagin was contracted by Igtet from 2011 to at least 2013, during which time Igtet and his wife Sarah Bronfman were fighting to keep NXIVM alive amidst an FBI investigation into allegations that it was a sex cult.

The Buzzfeed article published Monday revealed that Hagin was aware of the couple's involvement in NXIVM, and claims that Igtet even tried to recruit the senior Trump official to the group.

NXIVM announced that it had ceased operations last week following the arrest of its leader Keith Raniere in March, who has been charged with sex trafficking.

President Trump's deputy chief of staff for operations Joe Hagin, 62, has been linked to key backers of alleged sex cult NXIVM through the consulting firm Hagin co-founded

Hagin worked with Libyan politician Basit Igtet, left, and his wife Sarah Bronfman, right, from 2011 until at least 2013, during which time the couple was fighting to keep NXIVM afloat

Hagin, 62, is a longtime Washington insider who's worked for every Republican president since Ronald Reagan, earning the nickname 'White House Wise Man'.

During the Obama administration he co-founded Command Consulting, marketed as 'a global security and intelligence consulting firm that provides advisory services to governments, corporations, and high net worth individuals'.

Buzzfeed News has reported that one of Command Consulting's biggest clients was Igtet, who hired the firm in 2011 on the eve of the Arab Spring.

Sources told Buzzfeed that Hagin was originally tasked with building Igtet's influence in his home country of Libya after the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi.

However, his role soon changed, focusing on a treasure hunt for the $200billion that Gaddafi had reportedly left behind, in exchange for a hefty finder's fee.

At the same time that Hagin was assisting Igtet in his political goals, the affluent leader and his wife Bronfman were working to keep NXIVM afloat.

Bronfman has been said to have provided the group with millions of dollars over the last several years.

In a brief phone call with Buzzfeed Hagin said he was aware of Igtet and Bronfman’s involvement in NXIVM while he was working with them, but that he 'stayed away from it'.

A collection of at least eight sources who spoke with Buzzfeed have suggested that Hagin may have turned a blind eye to his client's involvement with the group because of the massive payout he would receive through the Libyan treasure hunt.

It is unclear when Hagin's firm stopped working with Igtet, but documents confirm that the relationship lasted until at least 2013.

Hagin gave up his stake in Command Consulting when he joined the Trump administration, but he has continued to earn nearly $100,000 from the firm in the last year, according to financial disclosures obtained by Buzzfeed.

The leader of NXIVM, Keith Raniere, pictured, was arrested on sex trafficking charges in March