Trump Cabinet Official Brought Subordinates With Her to a Strip Club and Kept a Booze Stash in Her Desk: Report

 

 (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

A Trump cabinet official is under investigation for alleged questionable behavior, including keeping an alcohol “stash” in her D.C. office and taking subordinates to a strip club during an official trip, The New York Post reported on Sunday.

Anonymous sources told The Post that a complaint against Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer triggered the investigation by the Labor Department inspector general’s office.

“The investigation has also confirmed that rumors the secretary pursued an ‘inappropriate’ relationship with an underling were discussed internally months ago and dismissed by her chief of staff Jihun Han,” the report said. Han was put on leave Monday along with his deputy Rebecca Wright.

The subordinate in the alleged inappropriate relationship with the secretary was also placed on administrative leave, according to the report.

The Post first exposed a bombshell complaint that alleged Chavez-DeRemer, 57, had also committed ‘travel fraud’ by having Han and Wright ‘make up’ official trips, was drinking in her office during the workday and enabled a hostile work environment — with her top aides belittling and bullying staffers,” the report said.

Chavez-DeRemer was accused in the complaint of having her staff make up official trips “so she had an excuse to visit her family members or travel for pleasure to favored destinations like Nevada.

In an alleged incident on April 18, the secretary allegedly took underlings to visit strip club Angels PDX, outside of Portland, OR. The alleged visit came at the end of a work trip, according to official travel schedules.

Chavez-DeRemer’s attorney said in a statement that the secretary “firmly denies any allegations of wrongdoing. Her utmost priority remains to advance President Trump’s agenda by continuing her hard and successful work for the betterment of the American people.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the investigation during Thursday’s press briefing, saying, “I have spoken to the president about that report regarding the secretary.”

He’s aware of the internal investigation, and he stands by the secretary, and he thinks that she’s doing a tremendous job at the Department of Labor on behalf of American workers,” Leavitt said.

Neither Han nor Wright responded to request for comment, the report said.

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