Adios to Another Member of Trump’s Esteemed Cabinet

It long has been axiomatic here in the shebeen that the contention, “Nothing but the best people,” is the funniest thing ever to emerge from a Trump presidency. Now, though, the second time around, it’s gone from hilarious to absolutely ghoulish.

On the same day that the FBI director launched a futile $280-million nuisance suit against The Atlantic for a story about what a boozehounding party animal he is, the Secretary of Labor resigns because, apparently, she and her family turned her department into something between the imperial couroft Caligula and the fleshpots of the Borgia popes. From TheWall Street Journal:

The allegations against [Lori] Chavez-DeRemer have been swirling for months, including that her staff had created a toxic work environment and that aides had directed Labor Department grants to political contacts to benefit the secretary’s career, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Chavez-DeRemer denied wrongdoing. There also appeared to be signs that her tenure at the Labor Department was coming to a close. Chavez-DeRemer had yet to replace her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, people familiar with the agency said, both of whom left. She was also expected to appear before a congressional hearing next week, prompting speculation about whether she would stay in the job until then.

Members of Congress had also expressed concern. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter dated January 28 to Chavez-DeRemer asking her about alleged bullying by her senior staff, whether she took her staff to a strip club and if she could provide records about her trips to Portland, Ore., Las Vegas and Palm Beach. Grassley in the letter, viewed by the Journal, described the reported allegations as “troubling.”

More recently at a congressional hearing, Rep. Mark Takano (D., Calif.) pressed Daniel Aronowitz, head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, about the inspector- general investigation into Chavez-DeRemer “for professional misconduct including drinking on the job.” Aronowitz said he didn’t “read any of the tabloid accounts” and said he had confidence in Chavez-DeRemer.

The Journal reported that Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer, faced allegations of inappropriate touching from two Labor Department employees and was barred from agency headquarters. A Washington Metropolitan Police Department report described an alleged incident at the agency headquarters in which “the complainant reported a sexual contact against her will.” Another female Labor Department employee told colleagues DeRemer touched her inappropriately, the Journal reported. Shawn DeRemer has denied those allegations.

Apparently,it was a family thing with the Chavez-DeRemer crew. From TheWashington Post:

A New York Times report last Wednesday revealed that the Labor Department’s inspector general was reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members. Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the newspaper. Some of the staffers were instructed by the secretary and her former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to her family, people familiar with the investigation told the Times.

The handprint on my forehead is getting deeper and more permanent by the hour.