Jan. 28 (UPI) — Sen. Marco Rubio announced the firing of his chief of staff after “allegations of improper conduct” with subordinates.
The Florida Republican posted a statement to his Twitter account and his website late Saturday revealing he had terminated the employment of his chief of staff, Clint Reed, but the statement did not mention Reed by name.
“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 Saturday. “These allegations were reported directly to me instead of our General Counsel or the Congressional Office of Compliance. Immediately upon receiving this complaint, I along with our General Counsel, began an investigation of this matter.”
Rubio said he “had sufficient evidence” by Saturday afternoon “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 [judgment] amounted to threats to withhold employment benefits.”
The senator said he traveled on Saturday night from Florida to Washington to fire Reed in person and ensure his office has “taken steps to ensure that those impacted by this conduct have access to any services they may require now or in the future.”
Rubio said no further details of the allegations will be released “pursuant to the wishes of those victimized by this conduct.”
Reed began working for Rubio on his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and went on to run his Senate campaign after he left the presidential race.
Rubio’s current deputy chief of staff, Jessica Fernandez, has been appointed interim chief of staff.
