Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s communications director was quietly forced to resign after the midterm elections over accusations of “inappropriate encounters” with other members of Schumer’s staff.
Schumer aide forced out
According to a Schumer representative, House resigned shortly after the elections in November. “Upon learning that he had inappropriate encounters within the office and that it was making some staff uncomfortable, he was asked to leave,” a spokesman told Fox News this week.
Exactly what is meant by “inappropriate encounters” remains unclear. The alleged behavior that led to House’s resignation has not been disclosed, and no legal charges have been filed.
But the Huffington Post, which broke the story on Friday citing insider sources, reported that the encounters were “sexual.” Based on House’s public statement, the forced resignation seems to have been warranted.
House’s apology
After the HuffPo story broke, House issued a formal apology for his behavior. “I absolutely loved my time working in the Senate and it was the honor of my life. I deeply regret the mistakes I made on the number of occasions when I had too much to drink, and I apologize to anyone who was affected by my behavior,” he said in a statement on Friday.
“I have always respected all of my colleagues and I was horrified to learn that I made anyone feel uncomfortable. In the past three months, I’ve stopped drinking and I’ve committed to making myself a better colleague and person,” he added.
House served as Schumer’s communication’s director for the past six years. Prior to that, he did similar work for Democratic Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) during his 2008 presidential campaign, and former Representative Paul Hodes (D-NH), during his Senate campaign.
Dead weight
House is just the latest top aide of a high-ranking Democrat to be ousted.
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), who recently announced her 2020 presidential bid, lost one of her senior advisers in December. According to reports, Larry Wallace resigned after The Sacramento Bee began inquiring about a $400,000 harassment lawsuit filed against him in 2016 during his stint at the California Department of Justice.
According to reports which surfaced last summer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) quietly fired her longtime driver several years ago after the individual came to be suspected of being a Chinese spy.
In late 2017, Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) was accused of keeping her chief-of-staff on payroll even after several female staffers accused him of harassing behavior. He eventually resigned after media outlets picked up the story.
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