Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., fired his chief of staff following "allegations of improper conduct" after discovering he had engaged in relations with at least one subordinate.
"Yesterday afternoon, I was made aware, for the first time, of allegations of improper conduct by my Chief of Staff while under the employment of my office," Rubio said in a statement on Saturday night. Rubio also noted that the allegations were reported directly to him, and "immediately upon receiving this complaint, I along with our General Counsel, began an investigation of this matter."
Rubio's statement continued, "By early this afternoon, I had sufficient evidence to conclude that while employed by this office, my Chief of Staff had violated office policies regarding proper relations between a supervisor and their subordinates. I further concluded that this led to actions which in my judgement amounted to threats to withhold employment benefits."
Rubio's chief of staff was not named in the statement, but was later identified as, Clint Reed, according to Politico. Rubio said he traveled from Florida to Washington D.C. on Saturday night to fire Reed. Further details on details of the alleged improper conduct are not available at this time, and Jessica Fernandez, the current deputy chief of staff, will fill Reed's position in the interim.
"We have taken steps to ensure that those impacted by this conduct have access to any services they may require now or in the future," the statement continued. "Pursuant to the wishes of those victimized by this conduct, we will not be disclosing any further details about the incidents which occurred. We will be formally notifying the appropriate Congressional and Senate administrative offices of this matter when they return to work Monday morning."
The news comes amid waves of sexual harassment or otherwise misconduct allegations from several powerful men within the media, Hollywood and even in Congress. Just recently, billionaire Steve Wynn stepped down as the finance chair of the Republican Party after a Wall Street Journal report detailed dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct.
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