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On Monday, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced her resignation from the department, amid multiple allegations against her and her family members regarding sexual misconduct, abuse of employees, and inappropriate communications with workers.
The scandal likely runs deeper than her family circle, as several other aides within the department have resigned as a result of an internal investigation into the allegations.
According to a New York Times report published last week, Chavez-DeRemer, as well as her husband Shawn DeRemer and her father Richard Chavez, sent messages to young staffers that were highly suggestive. Chavez-DeRemer allegedly told her staffers to “pay attention” to her father and husband.
In one instance, Chavez sent a message to a staffer expressing his dismay that he was unable to meet up with her while the two were in the same city.
“Hearing u/r in town. Wishing you would let me know,” Chavez reportedly wrote to the staffer. “I could have made some excuses to get out and show u around.”
“Please keep this private,” he insisted.
The situation was problematic enough for the Labor secretary’s husband, DeRemer, to reportedly be banned from the department’s headquarters due to his constant harassment of workers there. The D.C. Metropolitan Police also received a direct complaint from one staffer about DeRemer’s conduct, including allegations that he engaged in “sexual conduct” against that person’s will.
Chavez-DeRemer faced her own accusations of impropriety during her tenure at the Labor Department. She has been accused, for example, of having an affair with a member of her security team, and of using taxpayer funds for the department to pay for personal trips.
The White House failed to acknowledge that the allegations made against Chavez-DeRemer and her family members led to her departure, instead implying that her resignation was made for career reasons.
“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” read a statement from White House spokesperson Steven Cheung.
In a social media post, Chavez-DeRemer addressed the allegations directly, claiming they were based on rumors “peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine President Trump’s mission.”
Chavez-DeRemer becomes the third cabinet official to resign from or be forced out of the Trump administration. Notably, while scandals have plagued multiple cabinet members since the start of the second Trump term, only female members have been forced out, including former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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